You should clean the aquarium at least once a week. If you have a filter, you can wait longer. If you don’t have time to clean the entire tank, you can do a partial water change. Empty out at least half of the dirty water and replace it with clean water. Make sure the clean water is at least room temperature. I let it sit for a few hours in a plastic pitcher before I do the water change. You also need to add a few drops of something that will remove the chlorine from the tap water before you add the water to the aquarium. I use Wardley’s Chlor-Out. Chlorine and Chloramines in the water can kill your fish.
I try not to add anything else to the water. I had read suggestions about adding aquarium salt (never add table salt) to the water. I bought some and followed the instructions. My betta totally freaked out and swam head first right into the wall. I had to scoop him out immediately and put him in clean water. I never added aquarium salt to his tank again.
Also, do not use soap to clean the aquarium. Use plain warm water. I wear disposable plastic gloves and I use the gloves to scrub the tank. My aquariums have large glass stones on the bottom, so I dump them into a plastic macaroni strainer in the sink and run water over them. Glass stones have a tendency to crack in half and must be carefully inspected for broken pieces. I run all of the ornaments under warm water while rubbing them between my fingers.
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Linda Nicastro
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