Getting ahead of aquarium maintenance

For all of you who are brand new aquarium enthusiasts, maintaining your tank will likely be your biggest challenge – at least in the first year or so of owning a tank. Finding the time, knowing what to do and investing in it can be a little overwhelming at first – even for simple setups. 

So today, we’ve put together a blog to share some tips on some things you can do to keep your tank healthy. This’ll help save time and give you some direction. Let’s jump right in!

Properly conditioning your water

Nothing has a bigger impact on both the cleanliness of your tank and the health of your fish like properly conditioned water. Tap water is safe for drinking, but it also contains a lot of minerals in it that need to be balanced out. If you don’t – it won’t be able to support the overall health of your fish or keep a clean, attractive looking tank. 

Talk to your local fish or pet pros and ask them exactly what you’ll need to maintain a healthy environment for the fish you have. This will likely begin and end with the tanks’ pH balance and other chemical levels. While there are important nuances to understand and know – your general guidelines are this: Freshwater fish usually thrive in aquariums with pH levels around 6.6 and 6.8. Saltwater fish like higher levels – closer to 7.6 and 8.4 depending on the composition of your tank. 

There are other things you’ll need to consider – including the correct levels of nitrate, nitrite and ammonia – but these all depend on the overall outlays of your tank and what’s in there. Again – ask your pet pros. 

Choosing the right size tank

There’s a little bit of a balance here. Overcrowding a tank is bad, but so is leaving one, single, solitary fish in a wide open space. Overcrowding leads to low oxygen levels, excessive waste and can even lead to fish fatalities. Bigger tanks just means more for you to clean. Be sure to speak with your pet pros about the right size tank for your fish. 

Don’t overfeed

Overfeeding your fish leads to a wide range of problems, both in terms of the health of your fish and the overall health of the tank. The issues from an aesthetic perspective are obvious: the more you feed the fish, the more debris and waste ends up in the tank. It can mean algae growth and a faster-than-normal degradation of water quality and oxygen. Remember this: fish don’t need a ton of food to survive. Make sure you maintain a consistent schedule and provide an appropriate amount of food. 

Keep an eye on the temperature

Fish tanks should have water temperature that’s consistent. For freshwater fish you want to be anywhere from 72-82 degrees fahrenheit. For saltwater fish – they’ll do best 75-80. Temperature levels depend on the species you have so first off – make sure your fish are compatible with each other and second, make sure you’re maintaining temperature. 

Also avoid sunny areas as well. Not only can this heat up the water – but plants and other things can grow too quickly and knock your tank’s environment off it’s axis a bit. Also be mindful of the opposite as well. The back of the closet is no place for an aquarium either!

Hopefully you found today’s tips helpful. If you have any questions on how to run your tank’s environment, give us a call today and we’ll be happy to provide you with a free consultation. Until then – good luck!