I recommend changing 20% of your aquarium water once per week (best) or at least 25%+ once per month (minimum). With good filtration and plants (live rock in marine aquaria), you often can go longer than once per week. Use a de-chlorinator such as Start Right or Prime (Prime also detoxifies ammonia and nitrites) while refilling your aquarium if tap water is used. All de-chlorinators work instantly usually comprised of Sodium Thiosulfate. Please read more about cleaning frequency further in this article.
Steps:
*Make sure and wipe down the sides of the aquarium with an aquarium scrubber that is used ONLY for the aquarium to avoid contamination. Try and remove unsightly algae and especially any slime or mold (rinse this off in a sink)
*Use this time to change filter media that NEEDS changing, do NOT go overboard and change all media or you risk destroying your aquarium?s bacterial colonies needed for removal of ammonia, nitrites, ECT. HOB filters should have a second filter cartridge either in the filter or in the water column of the aquarium to allow for bacteria to form on this new cartridge before replacing the old one. If your HOB Filter has a sponge, bio grid (such as a VitaLife HOB filter, or bio wheel you only need to rinse these off in de-chlorinated tap or used tank water and there is no need to prepare a second cartridge before changing the old one.
*At this point you should change your water using a gravel vacuum, siphon, or similar method. For more about methods of water change, please read further in this article.
Frequency (Expanded)Use these factors to determine frequency:
*Type of fish, such as fish that naturally produce more waste (partly do to the type of food they eat) such as goldfish where one fish per 8+ gallons is better. Also a large and dirty fish such as an Oscar is another good example.
*Filtration, a properly filtered aquarium (good bio filtration, good mechanical filtration, and good circulation) with multiple filters is important.
*Well maintained water chemistry (including kH and Redox)
*After proper feeding, good cleaning routines (20% water changes with a gravel vacuum once per week or two), proper feeding routines, good filtrations If after all these are checked off and you still have nitrates that struggle to stay below 40-50 ppm (20 ppm for saltwater), you probably need to change more water or increase frequency and/or efficiency (especially if there are live plants!). Also a kH and pH that starts out at proper levels, but then drops quickly after water changes and/or addition of stabilizing chemicals or products such as Wonder Shells can indicate poor cleaning routines (as well as other problems such as mulm buildup).
For more about nitrates and the aquarium nitrogen cycle:Nitrogen Cycle and Aquarium Cycling How the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Works
For cleaning your aquarium (freshwater or saltwater) a Gravel Vacuum attached to a siphon or re-circulating filter works best. If you have a planted aquarium, I recommend #00 sand (3-5 cm) mixed with Azoo Plant Grower Bed, Eco-Complete, laterite or conditioned soil with #3 gravel (2-3 cm) on top. You should not vacuum the sand, as this will tend to be sucked all the way thru the vacuum, and this will also disturb the natural aerobic and symbiotic anaerobic filtration going on in the substrate being performed by the plant roots and nearby bacteria. If the sand must be vacuumed, very gently push the bell of the vacuum into the sand and quickly back out, kinking the hose with your other hand to slow the out flow to keep sand from being sucked up.You can drain this water into a bucket or attach the siphon to a long hose and drain it outside or into a toilet using gravity.There are other products that hook on to the sink, but these are over rated in my opinion and waste water. It is simpler to just get a long hose and get an adapter and attach your hose to the sick to fill, but drain your water into a garden where it will do some good (unless it is saltwater of coarse). If you do need this type of product you can make a DIY model with a Lee?s Gravel Vac, a garden hose, a faucet adapter from a local Hardware Store, and a water bed pump/drain. Lee?s also makes one that is less expensive than the Python and is exactly the same.
I prefer to leave the fish in during this process, as I feel more stress is added to the fish removing them and then placing the fish back in new water conditions that the fish are not accustomed to. Add water back slowly, and if tap water is used make sure the temperature is similar to the aquarium water already present in the aquarium, you can generally safely add warm tap water to correct this. Although in the Marine aquariums I maintained, I brought my own water and it was invariably colder than the aquarium, but this does not present as much of a problem as many think. If you do some math Say your aquarium is 78 F and you add 20% water back that is 68 F, that is 1/5th the volume, so 1/5th of a 10 F difference is only 2 F.What is more important is adding a de-chlorinator to your tap water (if tap water is used) WHILE the water is being added. I prefer Start Right, this product removes chlorine (and the chlorine ions attached ammonia in chloramines), removes heavy metals, and very importantly naturally stimulates the slime coat in fish vs. products that drop an artificial wad of slime into the aquarium that generally sinks to the bottom anyway.
In some successful aquarium keeping traditions (especially in Germany), no vacuuming is performed. Water is simply siphoned out of the aquarium and new water is carefully added back in. For this method to be successful in fresh water aquariums, you need a healthy growth of plants, good lighting, a thin layer of sand just enough to cover plant roots (not gravel). Good aerobic filtration is also a must.
Other methods include powered gravel vacuums such as the Aquarium Cleaning Machine
For my full article, please follow the link in my resource box:
By Carl Strohmeyer
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_cleaning.html
Tags: water conditions, nitrogen cycle, Fish, ammonia, gravel vacuum, aquarium, chemicals, Fresh Water, health, aquarium water, feeding, tank water, type of fish, food, algae