Daily:
You need to provide filtration, lighting, and food to your fish. Keeping the pumps, heater, lights, and optional air pump working on a daily basis, simply involves a once-a-day visual look to see that electrical connections are secure and that the flow of water and air is being maintained. Feeding should be a joy, watching the fish chase and compete for their food. If you have children, use fish feeding time for family time, where everybody can participate.
There are many different types and manufacturers of fish foods. It is a good idea to provide the fish with a variety of foods. These foods can be of flakes, pellets, freeze-dried, and frozen varieties. I would suggest that you look for prepared foods with added vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the 450mg/lb or greater range. You can find this in the list of ingredients. Freeze-dried and frozen-fish foods should also be given on a regular basis every couple of days. These are very important, because sometimes processed foods (flakes and pellets) can cause severe abdominal distress if fish are fed exclusively with these foods.
Be sure to feed your fish no more than they can eat in a five-to-ten
minute period twice-a-day. Take into consideration how many fish
you have, and that the size of their stomachs are about the same size as
one of their eyes.
Once a week, you should check the pH and ammonia readings in the
fish tank with the test kits that you have purchased with the tank setup.
(see Setting
Up)
If the pH reading is above 7.5 or below 6.5, or the ammonia reading
is above 1.0 ppm, I would suggest that you perform a partial water change.
This usually involves using a clear plastic water hose, a bucket, and a
little bit of your time. Fill the hose with water, hold the two ends
with your thumbs, place one end in the fish tank, and the other end in
the water bucket. Remove your thumb from the end in the tank, and
then the end that is in the water bucket. Allow about 25% of the
water in your tank to drain. Then refill your tank with fresh water
and re-condition the water with the water-conditioner and table salt as
per the same formula as described in Setting
Up. If you don't have the time, you can temporarily change
pH readings with some chemicals that are available for fish tank use.
These products (called pH UP and
pH DOWN, among others) are very useful, but are no substitute for a
long-term maintenance schedule including occasional water changes.
Bi-Monthly:
Perform the same test as done during the weekly maintenance as described
above. But whether or not the pH or ammonia readings are perfect
or not, a partial water change involving the above procedure should be
performed.
Also check the filters in your outside power filter. If they
appear to be very dirty, a rinsing under cool water is appropriate.
Generally replacement should be done at the monthly maintenance period,
which follows below.
Monthly:
Again, do the same test with your test kits, but change at least
25% of the water in the fish tank as normal maintenance. In addition,
rinse or replace your filter bags and any carbon inserts used by your outside
power filter. In addition, clean the inside surfaces of the power
filter, per it's instructions, to remove any built-up algae or slime on
the pump's parts. This gentle cleaning can be done to the heater,
thermometer, decorations, aquarium walls, underneath side of the aquarium
light, and air stone if needed.