When it comes to cleaning the aquarium, most people would rather not do it. Depending on how large the fish tank aquarium is, it can take up an entire day’s time. But, if you want to have a healthy aquarium with happy fish, cleaning the aquarium is absolutely necessary. Even though you have a filter in place, the filter can only do so much.

Cleaning the aquarium doesn’t need to be done on a monthly basis. The aquarium will usually need complete cleaning about every 3 months or so. Before cleaning the aquarium, you will want to have all the necessary equipment ready. This will include a bucket or container to hold the fish, a fish net, another bucket to refill the tank, a strainer, and a clean sponge.

The first thing you will want to do is remove the fish from the tank. It is recommended to use water from the aquarium and put it in the bucket first, before putting the fish in there. If you have a lot of fish, use more than one bucket or container to hold the fish.

After all the fish are out, start by removing the water from the aquarium. You can use a small bucket to scoop out the water or a siphon to get the water out. Once you have just about half the water left in the aquarium, remove all the plants and other objects from the aquarium. If there are live plants, you can place them with the fish in the bucket. For artificial plants and other object, clean them thoroughly with soap and water.

Continue to drain the water out completely once all the objects are out. The gravel will need to be removed from the tank to clean it as well. The gravel will contain most of the fish waste so be sure to clean it well. With larger aquariums, you will likely want to use a more sophisticated gravel vacuum setup so you can remove the waste without getting rid of the gravel.

Once the tank is empty, start by taking a sponge and soap and scrubbing the inside of the aquarium. As you are scrubbing, don’t put a lot of force on the walls, as it may scratch the glass. Once the glass is clean, make sure there is no soap residue left on the glass.

Once everything is clean, you can start to refill the tank with water and add everything back in there. The fish will be the last to go back in the aquarium. Before placing the fish back in, put them in a plastic bag with the water from the bucket and leave the bag in the water for about 20 minutes. This will allow their body to adjust to the new water temperature. Once everything is back in, you won’t need to do another cleaning job for the next 3 months or so. Don’t forget to change the aquarium filter on a regular basis to maintain optimum cleanliness and water balance.

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