How to Maintain a Tropical Fish Tank
Taking care of fish might appear to be a challenging endeavor to the new fish enthusiast, but setting up and maintaining a fish tank is much simpler than you might think. Learning to keep your tank at a comfortable water temperature for your fish and how to clean your tank of algae can help you to prolong the lives of the fish stocked in your tank.
Things You Will Need
- Aquarium
- Aquarium cover
- Heater
- Thermometer
- Filter
- Air pump/air filter
- Water Tester Kit
- Gravel/Decorations
- Algae Scraper
- Place the aquarium on the stand in the location that you want your aquarium to stay at. It will be much to heavy to move once you have the water, decorations and the fish in the tank.
- Wash the gravel and the decorations that you want to put in the tank with warm water and a mild soap. Rinse all of the items well, so that there is no soapy residue left on the gravel and decorations. Cleaning these items helps to prevent the fish from getting sick because of dirt or germs on the items.
- Place the gravel in the bottom of the fish tank and arrange the decorations in a way that is pleasing to you.
- Place the thermometer in the front of the tank, where you can see it.
- Attach the heater to the back of the tank by wetting the suction cup with water and then pressing the heater onto the back wall of the tank.
- Remove the filters from the package and read all the directions for the filters. Place the filters exactly in the location that the directions tell you to. Each filter will have different directions and works slightly differently so it is important to make sure you keep the directions and follow them.
- Hook up the air pump and the air filter. The air filter gets placed in the back bottom of the tank and you can spread some rocks over it to hide the filter. Run the clear tube up the back side of your tank and then drape the tube over the back. Attach the tube to the air pump.
- Fill your tank with water and turn on all the equipment. Put the cover of the tank on your aquarium. Allow the tank to cycle for at least one or two days before putting fish in it.
- Check the temperature of the tank by reading the thermometer. The temperature should read between 72-82 degrees for most warm water tropical fish, or between 62-72 for goldfish.
- Give your fish some fish food at least once a day.
- Locate algea on the tank by checking the walls for green or brown colors. Remove algae from the tank by placing the scraper on the side of the tank and gently rubbing your algae scraper up and down.
- Check the water levels with your testing kit. Each testing kit has slightly different directions so follow the directions on your kit accordingly.
- Clean the water in the fish tank once a week. Remove about 25-30% of the water and then replace the old water with fresh water.