Aquarium Maintenance

 

First and foremost, let’s just take a moment to recognize the aquarium as its own inclusive world. Nothing leaves that world unless you remove it. All the waste created by the creatures living inside it will only build up and snowball into a bigger issue like diseases. This is why it’s important to constantly keep up with your aquarium maintenance.

This why so many people use a professional aquarium cleaning service company, like Dallas Aquarium Experts.

Selecting an Aquarium

This is one of the most important things for your aquarium. Before you even start a fish tank you should have an idea of what fish you want and how many.  Make sure you plan everything for the future. Some fish get more aggressive, some poop a lot more than others and some fish just simply do not belong in the aquarium, growing way too big for any normal home aquarium.

Feeding your Fish

This is an odd subject. There is a huge misconception about feeding fish. Yes, it’s true they don’t need so much food but it’s not true that they should be fed only once a day, contrary to popular belief. I have seen fish food labels and professionals give out this advice and it is simply not a good one. Fish in the wild are feeding constantly. Feeding only once a day may be ok for predatory fish but most tropical aquarium fish tend to be community fish that, in the wild, feed all day. Now, I’m not saying constantly feed your fish but just don’t feed them once a day if you want them to thrive.  Realize the more you feed the aquarium the more frequent water changes will need to take place.

Aquarium Cleaning

The most important fish tank cleaning you can do is changing the water. Fish tank cleaning and the frequency of fish tank cleaning really depends on how much waste is being produced in the aquarium.  Let’s say you have a 55 gallon tank. You have 10 fish averaging six inches.  For this bio load it’s recommended you do at least 25% water change every week. Now if you had ten, one inch fish in the same tank, you would only need to do a  25% water change every four weeks and you will have same water quality. It’s all about figuring out how much you’re putting in there so you can figure out how much you should be taking out.

Aquarium Filtration

There is a lot of misconceptions about the filter and we will be going into detail how it works and what parts you should clean and which parts you should NEVER CLEAN. Generally, there are THREE different parts to an aquarium filter. First is the mechacnial stage usually a sponge is used to physically catch all the debris. Second is the chemical stage, usually of a freshwater aquarium carbon is used to remove heavy metals and other chemical toxicities. Third is your MOST IMPORTANT, your base for beneficial bacteria.

First Stage – Mechanical / Pre-Filter

Sponge filters are very helpful for a non-reef aquarium. These filters are the first defense is catching and removing (you have to do this part) debris from the aquarium. They are not recommended for a reef tank since reef tanks need absolutely pristine conditions and there are other more effective mechanical ways of removing waste. Like protein skimmers. Sponges will obviously trap all debris and will just keep building that debris until you clean it. It’s recommended in freshwater and fish only saltwater tanks to clean sponge filters once a month. But obviously more often the better.

Second Stage – Chemical / Carbon

The activated carbon part of the filter is mainly for chemical filtration. Carbon naturally has tremendous absorptive capacity and an affinity for a wide variety of dissolved organics.  It will make your water clear and smell clean but it does remove processed fish waste nor does it help in the fish waste removal process.

Third Stage and MOST IMPORTANT Biological Filtration

This is usually the final stage the water passes through inside your filter. All this is, is just a host for two types of beneficial bacteria. In saltwater aquarium, live rock can actually be a better option as your filter media. And as a host these guys house good bacteria which in turn break down your fish waste into less toxic bi-products. You should never EVER clean this!

CONTACT us for a Free Service Aquarium Estimate

Schedule a free consultation where a reliable and professional service technician will come to your home or business and access your current situation. Before you make your decision on an Aquarium Maintenance Company in Dallas, allow us the opportunity to provide you a free consultation regarding your current Aquarium or we can provide an estimate on a new aquarium set-up and aquarium maintenance. Your fish will reward you with their natural beauty and years of enjoyment.

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• Call us at (469) 450-3900

 

• Email us at sales@DallasAquariumExperts.com