General maintenance

Summary

General Aquarium Maintenance covers the basics of Weekly, Every Other Week, and Monthly maintenance schedules

General Maintenance includes overall aquarium care like Water Changes, Glass Cleaning, Filter Maintenance, Substrate Cleaning, Fertilizing, Water Testing, and Plant Trimming.

Full look at general Maintenance 🔍

So what does general maintenance mean?

Aquarium maintenance is all about keeping the water healthy. While feeding fish is important, the real focus is the environment they live in. Fish constantly pass water through their gills to breathe, so poor water quality directly affects their health. Just like bad air impacts us, dirty water can stress fish, promote harmful bacteria, and lead to illness. In the end, you’re not just caring for fish, you’re caring for the water that sustains them.

Water Changing

Changing the water in aquariums removes old nitrate filled water and replaces it with fresh, clean water. Now with that logic, 100% water changes seem like the key to healthy aquariums…? It’s recommended to do 20%-50% water changes weekly depending on your stocking level. Lightly stocked aquariums require smaller changes, while heavier stocked aquariums require larger changes. Weekly water changes are recommended for healthy aquariums. Live aquarium plants are the key to a thriving ecosystem in your tank.

Live aquarium plants eat up all those nutrients (nitrates) from fish waste (with a little help from fertilizing trace elements) so they can continue to grow. It’s recommended to keep aquarium nitrates between 15ppm and 25ppm for optimal fish health and plant growth. Keeping your PH, GH, and KH stable is also a super important part of healthy aquariums. Fish and other inhabitants do not do well with large parameter swings. That is why it’s not recommended to do 100% water changes.

Glass Cleaning

Cleaning the glass of aquariums, inside and out, is an important step to maintain that sought after crystal-clear look. Aquariums are beautiful, and clean glass to capture all that beauty is just as important.

Filter Maintenance

Filters are the heart of the aquarium, they take water in, and pump water out. What’s important is what happens in between those two steps. Filters serve several very crucial functions to your aquarium – They keep water moving, they filter out waste, and house most of your beneficial bacteria. Bacteria sometimes has a negative connotation to it, but in this case, it’s the life of your tank. Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter are the two big types bacteria that keep your tank safe for your fish. When fish use the bathroom, or uneaten food breaks down, any organic substance that breaks down in your tank causes ammonia. Now ammonia is super toxic to your fish and will cause problems like ammonia poisoning and chemical burns witch will ultimately lead to fish loss. Those two little guys we talked about earlier (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter) are nitrifying bacteria that break down that ammonia into less harmful nitrite, and then again into completely safe (under 40ppm) nitrate.

Substrate Cleaning

Cleaning your substrate means removing all the waste that may have settled on the bottom. I typically do not perform or advise deep cleaning of substrate on a regular basis. Same thing with your filter, your substrate is a breeding ground for all that beneficial bacteria and your detritus colony. Both keep your aquarium healthy! I typically remove any debris on top of the substrate for sandy aquariums, and periodically deep clean large gravel type substrates.

Fertilizing and Plant Trimming

Plant Maintenance is a tedious task but can make all the difference. Just like a haircut, it can change the whole appearance of the tank. Regular plant maintenance like weekly fertilizing (more often if co2 is being injected), and regular plant trimming, are crucial steps to keeping that clean look to your tanks.

Water Testing

Now if you’ve dipped your toes in (no pun intended) to aquarium keeping, I’m sure you have heard of testing your water. Some use strips but I’ve found those to be inaccurate when compared to liquid test kits. My test kit of choice is the API Master Freshwater Test Kit, and the sub tests that don’t come in the kit. Regular water testing ensures everything is running smoothly, and can rule out causes of potential problems. Just like we talked about earlier, water quality is what makes or breaks an aquarium and its health. Knowing where those levels are at is how I can make decisions for the best care possible. Things I test for includes but not limited to, PH, GH, KH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Copper, and Phosphates. Knowing where all these levels are at is an important insight into the overall health of aquariums. A great example is Boesemani Rainbow Fish. These fish THRIVE in hard, alkaline water (high ph, and high GH and KH). So pairing them with softer, acidic water loving fish is NOT going work.