Tropical Fish Tanks - How To Deal With Aquarium Algae

Algae grow easily in the aquarium tanks, especially on the walls. You can remove them by periodically scraping the sides of the tank. Don’t forget to also scrub the rocks. Bleach the rocks if the algae insist to stick to the rock. Be careful about bleaching because it can be toxic for fish.

If you also notice algae on the sand or on the plastic plants, you can remove them also but it will take some energy. You will need to wash the gravel in a lot of water and then rinse it.

But try to reduce the cause and not the symptom. Algae grow in excess if they have too much light. Reduce the light level first and use more natural light rather than the artificial one.

On the market, in pet shops, there are also some algae treatments, like the use of algaecide, which will help you solve the problem. But don’t abuse of this treatment. It can harm the fish and even kill them! Don’t expect the problem to disappear over night if you use this treatment.

You will never believe that adding natural aquatic plants control the algae growth. It is quite effective. For example, luxuriant plants grow and they filter out the light. Without a lot of light, the algae are kept in control. Plants also absorb chemicals from the water like nitrates.
Breeders say a tank should have around 50 small plants per square root of space.

Now you know what to do in order to take care of your tank and have healthy and beautiful fish. Other articles will follow with more advice on how to deal with algae.

What is a water hardness testing kit?

A water hardness testing kit is a kit containing ingredients for measuring the amount or number of grains per gallon of the dissolved salts of magnesium or calcium present in the water.

There are two types of kits available. The first involves the use of three chemicals which are added in succession to a sample of water to be tested. The number of drops of the last solution required to change the color is a measure of grains of hardness per gallon. The second type of kit makes use of the fact that soap will not lather readily in hard water. Drops of a standard soap solution are added to a sample of water. The number of drops required to produce lather equals its hardness in grains per gallon.

A rough idea of the hardness can be gained by washing your hands in some of it. Soft water lathers readily.

Like pH, there is a good deal of controversy as to the practical importance of water hardness. Most fishes can certainly stand extremely hard water if they are gradually accustomed to it. Many fishes will breed much more readily in soft, slightly acid water. There are chemical water softeners which will remove the calcium and magnesium salts from water. There are also water demineralizers available. These remove all the dissolved minerals from the water, leaving it almost as pure as distilled water.

Neither of these should be used on water while the fishes are present. Fishes cannot live in distilled water. To avoid overdoing it, when your water is too hard, make changes carefully. Soften some water separately. Dilute your aquarium water by adding this water to it and testing frequently. The amount to add depends on the degree of hardness you start with and the degree of hardness required. A hardness of 3 to 9 grains of hardness is the most satisfactory, although as stated before most fishes can stand water much harder than this, if the change to it is gradual.

Hardness is frequently measured as parts per million, abbreviated as p.p.m. Divide the number of parts per million by 17.1 to find the grains per gallon.

How To Clean Your Aquarium

As a responsible pet owner of course you want to provide your fish with the best
environment you possibly can, and you want to be certain you keep your tropical
fish tank as clean as possible. After all this is the home for the fish and
where they’ll live out the rest of their days, but they need to rely on you to
maintain it, clean it, keep it warm, and everything else that’s needed for that
home to be safe and sanitary. It’s not that hard to keep tropical fish tanks
clean and healthy but you should follow some rules that will allow you to do just that.

Be certain not to use any harsh cleansers, chemicals or abrasives when cleaning
tropical fish tanks because this may cause severe damage to your fish. Chemicals
and bleach always leave a residue no matter how much you rinse and these things
are very bad for your fish. If there are algae stuck to the side you can use a
razor or straight edge on glass tanks or a special cleansing cloth for tropical
fish tanks as this is the best way to keep your tank nice and clean.

You should use a special vacuum to clean the substrate or gravel on the bottom
of tropical fish tanks. This type of vacuum will get any harmful buildup and
bacteria without needing to remove and upset the entire collection of gravel,
which is never a good idea. Some people make the mistake of thinking that the
entire tank needs to be emptied and everything cleaned but this isn’t safe for
the fish as it wipes out the entire water of the tank.

Doing a water change is also important when cleaning tropical fish tanks. For large tanks you simply pull out about 10%-15% of the
water and replace it with warm tap water; for smaller tanks you’ll need to do
this with about 25% of the water. Always add a water condition afterward and you
can find these most anywhere that tropical fish tanks are sold.

It’s just as important not to over clean your tropical fish tanks as it is to
clean them periodically.  Don’t over clean them as this can cause as much damage
to the fish as not cleaning it enough.