How To Clean A 5 Gallon Fish Tank

When people find out y'all proceed fish, they probably imagine a crusty, algae-coated tank where y'all can barely see annihilation swimming inside. Only with just a few easy steps, y'all can proceed your aquarium looking like a beautiful piece of work of art. Follow along as we share our acme tips for cleaning your fish tank like a pro.

Earlier You Go Started…

There are several oft answered questions nosotros often hear from beginners, and so let'southward address those first:

How often do y'all need to clean a fish tank?

Some people say once a week, while others say once a month. The existent respond is that it totally depends! Several factors include the size of your tank, how many fish you keep, and how much biological filtration (e.g., benign leaner and live plants) y'all accept. Fortunately, we take a free guide to help yous figure out exactly what frequency is correct for your aquarium.

Practice yous take the fish out of the tank when cleaning?

No, go alee and get out your fish in the aquarium. You won't be completely draining the aquarium, and then there will be plenty of water left for them to swim in. Also, the process of communicable them is more than stressful for the fish than slowly cleaning around them.

catching aquarium fish

There'southward no need to catch the fish before cleaning an aquarium because it will simply crusade undue stress.

How long do you let h2o sit down before putting fish in?

This sometime school piece of advice comes from the fact that municipalities frequently put chlorine in tap water (which is lethal to fish), but if you let the water sit down out for 24 hours, the chlorine evaporates. Nowadays, chloramine (a more stable form of chlorine) is often used in tap h2o, and it does not evaporate over time. Instead, you need to dose h2o conditioner to make the water safe for fish, and then you can immediately use the dechlorinated water for your aquarium with no wait time.

What cleaning supplies do y'all need to go?

If this is your first aquarium, you may need to collect some tank maintenance materials, such as:

Aquarium water test kit
Bucket for holding dingy tank water
Algae scraper (for glass or acrylic)
Algae scraper blade attachment (for drinking glass or acrylic)
Toothbrush for cleaning algae off decor or plants
Scissors for pruning plants
Dechlorinator (besides known as h2o conditioner)
Glass cleaner
Towel for wiping up h2o spills
Glass-cleaning cloth or paper towel
Aquarium siphon (likewise known every bit a gravel vacuum)

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How to Clean Your Aquarium

Now that we've cleared up some confusion well-nigh tank maintenance, here is a step-past-footstep guide for you to follow on a regular ground:

Stride 1: Test the Water Quality

If your aquarium is newly established and has non been cycled yet, you demand to test the water to decide if information technology has 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, and less than forty ppm nitrates. (For more info, discover out how to cycle your aquarium.) Higher levels of these waste matter compounds can be dangerous for fish.

If your aquarium is already cycled, then the goal is to keep nitrate levels below 40 ppm. Measure the nitrates using a h2o test kit to determine how much h2o should be removed and if other steps need to be taken (based on our free guide to water changes).

aquarium water test kit

A water exam kit helps you make up one's mind if there are toxic levels of nitrogen waste compounds in the aquarium.

Step two: Remove Algae

In order to maintain a clear view of our fish, scrub the tank walls with an algae scraper. If yous have the blade attachment, it should be very easy to slice through whatsoever tough algae spots. Simply make sure non to grab any substrate underneath the algae scraper, or y'all may end upwards scratching the glass or acrylic.

If algae has grown on the lid, you lot can easily rinse it off in the sink. (Don't use soap or it may harm your fish.) Finally, if algae covers your aquarium decor, rocks, or plants, try using a clean toothbrush to gently brush it off, either over the sink or in the aquarium. Read our article on how to get rid of algae for more tips and tricks.

scrubbing off algae

Go along algae under control by regularly removing it and balancing the lighting and nutrient levels in your aquarium.

Step 3: Prune the Plants

If you lot keep alive aquarium plants, have this time to remove any expressionless leaves and trim down overgrown foliage. If you have tall stem plants, you tin hands propagate them by cutting a few inches off the tops and replanting them into the substrate. If your vallisneria or dwarf sagittaria are spreading into unwanted areas, pull out the piddling runners and movement them elsewhere. Lastly, if floating plants take completely covered the entire water surface, remove nigh 30% to 50% of them so that the plants below get enough light and the fish go enough oxygen.

pruning aquarium

Pruning helps plants to focus on delivering nutrients to the healthiest leaves, and it also allows light to reach leaves at the bottom of the stems.

Step 4: Turn off Equipment

Before removing any water, make sure to plough off or unplug all equipment. Aquarium heaters and filters are not meant to operate without water and therefore tin go damaged when running in dry air.

Step 5: Vacuum the Substrate

Accept out your dandy aquarium siphon and vacuum approximately one-tertiary of the substrate. Move whatever decorations or hardscape as needed, since droppings tends to collect underneath them. The siphon serves the dual purpose of not only removing fish waste matter, uneaten food, and expressionless leaves from the gravel or sand, but also removing former tank water and the excess nitrates in them. Bank check out our gravel vacuum article for detailed instructions on how to start a siphon (and how to stop it if y'all accidentally suck up a small fish).

gravel vacuum

Siphons are one of the most useful tools for easily irresolute water without having to use a cup or pitcher.

Step 6: Clean the Filter

At least once a month, you should clean the filter. Many beginners remember of filters similar a black hole where fish poop and detritus magically disappear from the water. In reality, filters are more similar trash cans that collect waste, but at the terminate of the day, someone is nonetheless responsible for taking out the trash can. In the same style, filters collect fish waste matter, but you must still regularly clean it to remove all the gunk before the filter gets clogged up or overflows.

If you accept a hang-on-back, canister, or corner box filter, the easiest fashion to maintenance it is to swish around and wash the filter media in your bucket of recently removed tank water. (Again, do not apply soap, simply water.) If yous accept a sponge filter, remove the foam portion and wring it multiple times in the bucket of old tank h2o. For more than details, read the last section of our sponge filter article.

Footstep 7: Refill the Water

At this bespeak, y'all can finally refill the tank with fresh, make clean h2o that matches the temperature of the existing aquarium h2o. Human easily are able to observe temperatures within one or 2 degrees, so only suit the faucet until the tap water feels like information technology has the same corporeality of warmth. Empty out the bucket of onetime tank water (which can exist used to feed indoor and outdoor plants), and refill information technology with tap h2o. You can either add dechlorinator into the bucket (dosed based on the bucket's book) or direct into the tank (dosed based on the aquarium'southward volume). This is also your chance to add liquid fertilizer and/or root tabs for the substrate.

refill aquarium water onto hand

If you're worried nigh messing up your aquascape or substrate, pour the new water into the aquarium through a colander or onto some other solid surface (like your hand or a plastic purse) to lessen whatever disturbances.

Pace viii: Turn on Equipment

Although yous but spent all this time cleaning the tank, it probably looks dirtier than e'er with all that particulate clouding up the water. Not to worry – plow on the heater and filter once more, and inside an hour or then, the droppings volition settle down or get sucked upward by the filter.

Pace 9: Wipe the Glass

For that extra, crystal-clear finish, wipe downward the outside walls of the tank with aquarium-safe glass and acrylic cleaner to remove any water spots and smudges. Also, clean off the dust that has collected on the lid, light, and aquarium stand. At present you accept a truly Instagram-worthy aquarium ready to wow your friends and family unit!

boy enjoying cichlid tank