Cleaning Your Fish Tank


1. Empty 20-30% of the water in your fish tank (using a siphon)

2. As you are emptying the water, make sure to siphon through the gravel to get the dirt and debris out.

3. Take out the rocks and plants - scrub them with a sponge or just run under warm water to get the grime off

4. If you need to, catch your fish and put them in a tank with something that oxygenates the water

5. Take the media out of your filter and rinse it under warm water, you also can run your bio-wheel under warm water as well (Hint #1: never through away your bio-wheel and replace it with a new one, you want to continue to use the old one because it has good bacteria that has grown on it) You will also need to rinse out the rest of your filter. (Hint #2: If you have 2 filters only clean one at a time - clean the second one a couple days later. You do this because you don't want to bacteria levels to plummet and/or spike)

6. Place your rocks and plants back into the tank - either where you had them or in another place, it's your call (By taking out the rocks and plants you will "trick" the fish into thinking they have a new home)

7. Now this step can be one of two things - You can either add the fish or add the water. It will not matter. I like to add the fish first, then add the water. So we will say, add your fish back to your tank.

8. Add water to your tank, fill so it is about 1 inch from the top of your tank. Make sure you dechlorinate the water once you add it to your tank.

9. Smooth out any gravel that might have been shifted during the addition of the water, and fix any plants and rocks that might have moved as well.

10. Add your top back to your tank, clean the excess water from the sides of the tank, and turn on your lights

Now your tank should be nice and clean and ready to rock for another 5-6 months or so.