Fish Tank care

Once you've got your tank up and running you need to maintain it.  Fish tank carecan be broken down into daily, weekly and monthly tasks with a few extras that need to be done every six months or so.

Daily Fish Tank Care Tasks are more about observation than anything else so while you're enjoying your fish take a few moments just to check out some of the essentials.

• Check the Temperature every day.  Make sure that the thermometer is somewhere where you can see it easily.  The aquarium temperature shouldn't fluctuate greatly.  If you see a sudden increase or decrease in temperature then get a new heater straight away.
• Mark the Water Level on the side of the tank and just check to see if there has been much evaporation.  Too much evaporation can cause spikes in pH levels.
• Check out your fish.  Do a quick head count, are they all present and correct and moving about normally.  Unusual behaviour or loss of appetite may be a sign of illness.  If you watch your fish on a regular basis you will soon get to know what is normal for them and be able to spot any behaviour which is out of the ordinary. 
• Look for any dead fish, even in a well maintained tank it will still happen.  You need to remove any dead fish immediately to avoid an Ammonia spike caused by decomposition.  It is also good housekeeping to move any dead or dying leaves off plants as these too can add to pollution in the tank.  

Weekly Fish Tank Care Tasks - you need to set a bit of time by for this and plan a bit ahead.  This is the cleaning time and there are two main tasks that you are going to be concerned with, the first is cleaning the tank and the second is a partial water change, both of which go a long way towards maintaining water quality.

• Make sure that you have prepared your replacement water, either by allowing it to stand or by using a dechlorinator 
• Siphon off between 10% and 25% of your water.  Use a gravel vacuum at the same time to remove mulm or debris from the surface of your gravel.  If you are regularly finding a lot of muck in your gravel it may be that you are either over feeding your fish or have too much stock in the tank. 
• Use an algae scrapper to clean the glass of your tank.  These are made with specific tanks in mind so make sure that you choose the right one for glass or acrylic. 
• Prune and reanchor any live plants, removing any unhealthy looking leaves or stems. 
• After cleaning gently siphon fresh water back into the tank. 

Monthly Fish Tank Care Tasks are also about maintaining water quality but are more about the behind the scenes stuff than the weekly cleaning routine.  It is worthwhile keeping a log of monthly tasks just so that you know when things were last done.

• Water quality testing can usually be done monthly unless you have had a problem and need to monitor things more frequently.  Nitrate and Nitrite levels as well as pH and Ammonia levels need to be recorded and ideally taken at the same time of day.  These records will be useful for diagnosing any problems should they occur. 
• Filter cartridges need to be replaced on a monthly basis 
• Any biological filter media should only be rinsed through to remove solids and always do it a bit at a time.  Never use any kind of detergent as this will destroy your biological filter by killing the bacteria. 
• Rinse things out in the water you have removed from the aquarium.  Replace any clogged sponges. 
• Clean or replace your airstones if the air flow has decreased. 

And Finally - change the light bulbs every six months or so.  Although they look as if they are working they will have deteriorated in quality and your tank will not be getting the light that it needs.

Look at the mechanical side of filters roughly twice a year lubricating where needed and replacing any worn or broken parts.