Aquarium water treatment

If you want to start a argument put a bunch of aquarium owners in a room and ask what the best method for keeping the water in their tank clean. What I am going to offer is what works best for me, this is by no means the best way to do it, it is what works for me. I have a 20 gallon tank in which I have mostly gold fish, not feeders, but exotics which cost be between $8.00-$12.00 a fish, so I want to take good care of them.

I change the water in my tank once a week, usually on a Sunday. On Saturday morning I fill three one gallon pitchers with water , and a 6 gallon container that I purchased at my local sporting goods store that doubles as a water container when I go camping. I give the water I am going to use 24 hours to warm to room temperature, and to give a chance for some of the metals, chlorine, fluoride, and other chemicals that our water company puts in to evaporate.

When I go to do my water change I unplug my filter and change the cartridge every week. My filer uses the penguin "B" size filters, yes there is a sticker on them that says I can go 2-4 weeks, but by the second week they look really nasty, and the water in the tank is not as crystal clear. I have a hand pump style vacuum and I take out 20-25% of the water in my tank, I pump it into a large paint container that I purchased at my local Lowes. I vacuum the gravel around my tank decorations one week, and the next week I move the decorations so I can get at the gravel underneath them. Once a month I clean my pump with a soft tooth brush everywhere but the bio wheel, I don't want to risk removing any of the helpful bacteria.

Before I add the new water I add Aquasafe water treatment, one teaspoon per pitcher. I pour the new water into my tank pouring it into the filter, this allows it to land in the tank without messing up the gravel, and stressing out my fish. I add the water in my 6 gallon container to the gallon pitchers, add more Aquasafe until the water is up to the top of my tank, then I restart my filter.

My last step is to add aquarium salt, I have found that all aquarium salt is not created equal in terms of quality. I prefer to purchase it at my local independent pet store than from a big retail chain.

However you prefer to take care of your tanks water you can find supplies and products hereAquarium tank cleaning products