“Tank Maintenance Guide”

So you now got your aquarium all set up with fish, plants, ornaments and everything is looking and running good. Your aquarium is looking real nice. You are very pleased with how your aquarium look. But wait in order for your aquarium to stay that way, there is certain things, that you need to do. It will not take to much of your time, and your fish will love you for it.

Now before you put your fish into your new aquarium, you should test the water. This will tell you what the pH is, because certain fish like a high ph and certain fish like a low ph. Then you should find out how hard or soft your water is, most tetra like a pH of under 7.0. A lot of the cichlids like a high pH, some as high as 8.0 or a bit more. Then you should test for ammonia. Now some pet shops will test your water for free, if you buy your fish and supplies from them. Now before you put fish in your tank you should add stress coat and ammo- lock to the water. What stress coat do is make your water old and remove certain things from the water that may be bad for the fish. Plus it also remove chlorine from the water. Ammo-lock will detoxified any ammonia in the water. Ammo-lock should be added once a week for 3 to 4 weeks. After 3 or 4 weeks your tank should be cycle. Also for the first 3 or 4 weeks ,try not to put to many fish in your aquariums. After that then your aquarium should be okay, for as many as it can safely hold. Also do not over stock your tank because this can be very bad.

Once a week you will need to clean your aquarium. You need to remove 10-20% of the water. This 10-20% of the water that you siphon out will come from the bottom of the aquarium. This way you are getting any dirt and uneaten foods. You will have to go to your local pet shop and buy a siphon hose. This should cost under $10.00 can. Then you replace it with aged water( water that been sitting for 2-3 days). You may also want to check the aquarium pH and ammonia level at this time, to make sure it ok. Plus you should also add some stress coat to the new water that you used.

You also should wipe the inside of the aquarium glass off to. This will help to stop agre from growing on the glass and your tank will look better to. Once a mouth you will need to change your aquarium filters. Now some people and websites, will tell you that you only need to change the filters once every 2 to 3 months. But for the same amount that it cost, it make more sense to change them once a month. Plus your fish will love you for it. So once a mouth is a good rule to follow.

You also will need to know what your kinds and types of fish are.  This is something you need to find out. Also certain fish can not go together in the same tank. All cichlids can not be put in with other community types of fish, such as guppies, swordtail and others .  Cichlids will need to have their own aquarium. Also another reason you need to know what types of fish you got is because most pet shop will try to sell you any fish. Most pet shop is in it for the money, only. So you also need to find a pet shop that know what they are doing and buy from them only. As time goes on i will be adding more details to this guide.