Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Aquarium Maintenance Service And What One Needs To Know

By Lora Jones


With aquarium maintenance service, fish are sure to have a healthy aquatic environment. Thus the fish are bound to thrive. Eventually, this ensures they live for much longer. Problems that are costly and time consuming can be prevented by spending some little time for maintenance every other week. Thirty minutes would do. In so doing, there would be no need to schedule major routine maintenance services that tend to cost more.

Stability is perhaps the single most vital factor taken into account in tank maintenance. Obviously, the health of the fish is more important that all other aspects. Consequently, as long as systems are operating smoothly and the fish are in good health, no major changes should be considered. This is irrespective of whether the pH of the water has changed or not. However, if the main water parameters were to change, there would have to be prompt action to correct that in time.

Owing to the importance of water, its regular change cannot be overemphasized. It should preferably be done once for every two weeks. Changing about 10 to 15% of the water volume is just sufficient enough. Preferably, gravel should be vacuumed as the changing is done. The reason for this is to eliminate foods that were not eaten and other residues present on the substrate.

Consideration of the parameters of water is very essential, that is the tank water and the water for replacement. Tap water, more so that from cities is known to contain the elements chlorine and chloramine. Since the elements lose air relatively fast, they ought to be kept under aerated conditions for about twenty four hours. Chloramine contains chlorine and ammonia. In either case, water conditioners are used for chlorine neutralization.

Even with neutralization of the aquarium water, ammonia will still be present in it. It is however able to be broken down by bacteria that are in the aquarium. The only downside is that this may take much longer than fish can put up with. The other components that may be present in tap water are phosphates, iron as well as lots of other heavy metals.

Another source of water that can be used is that from wells. Its advantage over tap water is that it contains no chlorine. On the downside however, it is hard and may need to be softened prior to use. The filtered aquarium water has to be regularly checked as part of aquarium maintenance service. This may include replacement of membranes that do the actual filtering. If faulty, they would not do their work effectively.

Filter inserts that facilitate filtration ought to regularly be changed. The recommended period is once in every four weeks. For high fish loads, the replacement period reduces considerably. Any particles trapped in the filters decompose and block them with time. Filter cleaning should be scheduled once monthly.

In cold places, aquariums may need to be heated to maintain temperature at desired levels. During aquarium maintenance service, heaters should also be checked and repaired if need be. When water is being changed, they should be low enough under the water to avoid cracking and so that they do not cause shock.




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