If you compare a fish tank to a room, then naturally the fish room should be cleaned regularly and kept clean. The cleanliness of the fish tank has a great impact on the ornamental quality of the fish tank, and if the fish tank and the internal scenery are not clean, it will also pollute the water quality of the fish tank and affect the survival of the fish.
To maintain the water quality, we need to remove the algae and other impurities in the water to give the fish a good environment.
The steps to clean a fish tank
1. Get the cleaning tools ready
Besides the basic cleaning tools for freshwater aquariums, there are special needs for saltwater aquariums. Gather the following utensils.
The amount of water you need to replace, the algae cleaning pad for cleaning the tank glass, a large bucket (10 liters or more) for cleaning the tank, and a simple siphon bottom cleaner (not battery operated).
If you are replacing the filter cartridge this time, you will need filter media (cartridge, sponge, bamboo carbon, etc.), glass cleaner or vinegar solution that is safe to use in the tank, salt mix, pH paper, a refractometer, hygrometer or salinity probe, a thermometer, 10% bleaching solvent in a separate container (optional).
2. Remove algae
Use algae cleaning pads to remove algae residue from inside the tank. You can use a metal blade or plastic blade to remove the residue, that has been accumulated for a long time and is hard to remove.
3. Suck the water out
A saltwater aquarium only needs to be replaced with 10% of the water every two weeks. This should be enough to remove the nitrates from the water. Start the siphon and let the water flow into the large bucket.
4. Clean the bottom sand
Push the bottom sand cleaner through the bottom sand. Fish excrement, leftover food, and other debris will be sucked into the cleaner. If your fish are small, fragile, or delicate, you can put a never-worn stocking over the end of the siphon, just make sure the stocking mesh is large enough to allow debris to pass through. For the bottom sand, use only the hose portion of the siphon, not the plastic tube. Hold the hose at the bottom 2.5 cm up to suck up the waste, and do not disturb the sand.
5. Clean the decorations
You can use a seaweed cleaning pad or never used soft bristle toothbrush, to wipe the algae on the decorations in the tank water sucked out. You can also move the decorations out of the tank, and soak them in 10% bleach solvent for 15 minutes. Then pour the boiling water on the decorations and leave them to air dry before putting them back into the tank.
6. Check the salt creep
When the seawater evaporates to the top of the tank, it will leave a crusty residue, which is called salt creep. Use a seaweed cleaning sponge to remove it and replace the lost water.
How to clean up the attachment inside the fish tank
1. If it is indoor, besides single-shrink worms and other fixed classes of atomic worms, there are also caterpillars, knotty worms, etc. It is not easy to scrub away, which should be treated with 0.7 mg/l copper sulfate first, then it is easier to brush away with a brush. If it is operated with fish, it is better to do it 2~3 times (front wall, back wall, side wall), after scrubbing, let the dirt settle on the bottom of the fish tank, then pump it away.
2. For the glass tank placed outside or in front of the window where the sunlight is strong, yellow film, brown film, and other moss and algae are relatively easy to scrub clean, general fishing gear can be brushed clean. Here you can make your bamboo strip: take a bamboo strip 3~5cm wide and 20~30cm long, and sharpen one end into a flat carving knife, it is easy to use this bamboo tool to remove the hard moss and algae from the tank wall.
3. Less hard moss and epiphytic algae can be brushed with a sponge. If the sponge is too short, it can be self-renewed or self-made. Self-made can also be used as a small piece of polyurethane foam material, it is wrapped around one end of a hardwood or bamboo (about 1.5 cm thick, 35-40 cm long), and then folded and rolled over, like a drumstick, fixed with a cowhide band, generally to tie (up and down) two circles.
4. Double magnet wall wipe is two pieces such as thin ice brick magnet, one placed in the cylinder, the other grasped in the hand and moved in the cylinder wall because the magnetic effect is very strong, helps the cylinder magnet is driven to move in the cylinder wall, to remove the dirt inside the cylinder wall.
How to clean the filtration system
Generally speaking, the filtration system has these layers: the first layer is the filter cotton, the second layer is biochemical cotton, the third layer is the glass ring (ceramic ring, biotite, etc.), the fourth layer is the activated carbon (ammonia absorption stone, wheat rice stone, etc., this layer can be used for goldfish). We mainly clean the filter cotton, and the other layers depending on the density of fish breeding and feeding 3 months to half a year to clean, should not be too diligent.
The first layer is a physical filter, mainly to block the solid residue in the water, so it is especially easy to dirty, cleaning is also based on this layer, other layers are usually rarely cleaned, often washed but easy to lose nitrifying bacteria. Cleaning is to use the fish tank water change machine, take out the filter cotton, rinse repeatedly in the pumped-out fish tank water, can also use the pumping tube to filter cotton backwash (of course, the impulse is very limited) wash.
When cleaning, one should pay attention to not scrubbing, and do not require excessive cleaning, and not directly with tap water, otherwise, the nitrobacteria attached to the filter cotton will be eliminated, and even lose the role of biological filtration.
How to disinfect the fish tank
Use potassium permanganate solution, potassium permanganate, also known as PP powder, is a strong oxidizing agent, when it meets organic matter, it releases new ecological oxygen, which has the effect of killing bacteria. Its bactericidal power is very strong, and commonly used concentration of 1:2000-1:5000, (i.e. 1 gram of potassium permanganate plus 2L-5L water) solution rinse.
Note that the soaking time must reach 5 minutes to kill bacteria. Prepare the solution with cool boiling water, using hot water will fail. After disinfection and a little washing with water can be used.
But remember: do not use chemical cleaning agents, or other chemical reagents when cleaning. Because the alkaline substances in the cleaning agent, surfactants phosphates, etc., can cause harm to fish and aquatic plants. It is better to use hot water and sponge plastic with a little vinegar to clean.
A few points to note when cleaning a fish tank
1. Don’t use detergent and other chemicals to wash the tank, the residual chemicals are easy to affect the fish.
2. Don’t wash the filter at the same time.
3. Don’t change the water a lot while washing the filter.
4. Don’t use wire balls and other hard objects to rub the old moss, it is easy to scratch the glass and damage the silica gel.
5. Don’t clean the tank thoroughly in low water temperatures (below 15 degrees), because the nitrification system and moss recovery are very slow.
We must clean the tank regularly to give the fish a good living environment!
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