How to Clean a Fish Tank

cleaning fish tank substrate with gravel vacuum

Sounds simple? Do it right and keep your stress minimal!

Simple Steps: How to Clean a Fish Tank

p1020130 Aquatic Veterinary Services
Cleaning the glass
  1. Wash your hands and arms to your elbows.
  2. Unplug filter and lights. If you have any UV lights, unplug those too. Close any valves if you have a sump so it doesn’t overflow.
  3. Remove any synthetic decor and scrub it with hot water and a designated toothbrush.
  4. Clean the glass with an appropriate acrylic-safe or glass scrub.
  5. Use a gravel vacuum to get into the substrate crevices. Do not remove more than 50% of the tank water at a time. Your fish can stay in the tank, just don’t suck them up!
    p1020132 Aquatic Veterinary Services
    Scrubbing decor separately using hot water and toothbrush
  6. Remove filter media and rinse gently or squeeze in collected bucket of waste water. Do NOT use tap water. The chlorine can kill your good bacteria. Your filter media does NOT have to be pristine and sparkling. Again, super clean media will reset your biologic filter to ZERO. You do NOT have to replace your filter media every month. If your filter media is falling apart, do not replace more than 1/4-1/3 of the total media at a time. We recommend using sturdy sponges over floss.
  7. Use your waste water to feed your plants. The nitrates make great fertilizer!
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    Using a gravel siphon to clean substrate
  8. Re-fill your bucket with tap water. Bottled water can be missing buffers and/or minerals. Make sure it is the same temperature as your tank! An infrared thermometer is great for quickly comparing two temperatures.
  9. Add dechlorinator to your bucket of water and decor that treats chlorine AND chloramine. Chloramine is a more stable form of chlorine mixed with ammonia! Allow a few minutes for the dechlor to do its job.
  10. Replace your decor back in your tank and pour in your treated water. You may need to adjust your decor after adding the water.
  11. Prime your filtration by pouring some tank water into the filter base. Plug in and adjust flow accordingly. Open any valves you previously closed.
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    Gently rinse filter media in waste water
  12. Turn on your lights and replace any covers. Watch your tank for a few minutes to make sure everything is working properly.
  13. Wash your hands and arms!

Watch this video for the entire how to clean a fish tank process.

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13 thoughts on “How to Clean a Fish Tank”

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