Saltwater Aquarium Maintenance: Proper Guideline

Saltwater aquarium is becoming popular day by day. Saltwater Aquarium Maintenance is more troublesome than freshwater aquarium. It is an exceptionally dependable and careful action. To keep a saltwater aquarium sound for beginners is difficult. Many people erroneously trust that saltwater aquariums needn’t any decor at all. Fish from the oceans and seas are exceptionally wonderful in themselves and don’t require extra design. You should keep in mind that some scenery is needed by the fishes themselves. They will fill in as assurance and shelter, help your pets survive with stress brought on by different reasons. Besides these, the greater part of the occupants of the oceans is extremely dynamic and versatile; they require a considerable measure of space with the expectation of complimentary swimming. For marine aquarium the most significant beautifying things are:

  • Corals 
  • La​va
  • Volcanic tuff​
  • Living rocks​
  • Customary decorations such as:​
  • Small castles
  • Caves or shelters
  • Various snags
  • Grottoes, etc. 

Essential Equipment for Saltwater aquarium

To make a little aquarium world, you have to locate the correct equipment. Without it, you essentially cannot make a satisfying situation for the fish. The list of vital equipment includes:

  • Mechanical and biological filters.
  • Calcium reactor;
  • Stirring pump;
  • Ozonizer;
  • A flotator/skimmer or foam separator;
  • Water auto-discharge system;
  • Thermostat;
  • The device of clearing of glasses;
  • Siphon for cleaning the soil;
  • Spirit thermometer;
  • Water parameters testing kit;
  • Device for monitoring СО₂; 
  • Ultraviolet sterilizer;
  • Air conditioner for water purification from chlorine and metals.

Proper care for saltwater aquarium includes:

Your aquarium world is wonderful and fascinating. The life and strength of aquarium`s occupants rely on upon the maintenance of aquarium. Maintenance of a large aquarium is less troublesome than caring for a small aquarium. For 10 liters of water it is prescribed to colonize 2.5 cm of fish, 15 liters of water – 5 cm of fish, 35 liters of water – 10 cm of fish. The following activities should be done to keep your fish happy and healthy:

  • Water substitution 
  • Cleaning the glass;
  • Checking aquarium equipments (lights, filters, and so forth.);
  • Washing of filters;
  • Cleaning of the soil;
  • Inspection and encouraging of fish. 

Daily Care:

Daily care comprises of the accompanying:

  • Timely upkeep of the aquarium. 
  • Inspect the state of fish.
  • Check the integrity of the tank.
  • Check the temperature, transparency of water.
  • Feeding- Feed the sea fish 2 times a day. During feeding, you should inspect the fish because at this time they are shown from shelters.
  • Check the level of pH and ammonia.
  • You need to clean the walls and partially replace the water once a week.
  • Inspect the equipment (lights, filter, radiator and different equipment etc).
  • Cover the aquarium with a lid- the water level decreases due to evaporation. You need to monitor this and add water in time. If you do not do it on time, the composition of the water can change, become more saturated.
  • In time, clean filters, soil, plants, and decor.

Weekly Care

  • Remove debris, 
  • Reduce overgrown plants,
  • Clean glass, etc.
  • Partially change the water.
  • In time, clean filters, soil, plants, and stylistic layout.
  • Remove the film of dust from the surface of the water of an unclosed aquarium.

Some important steps to make your aquarium environment healthy:

Partial changes of water

The partial water replacement should be done. It is necessary that when the new water is added, you should carefully maintain the quality and mineral composition of the water to prevent sudden changes.

Cleaning the walls of the Aquarium

The walls of the aquarium are cleaned frequently. This should be finished with a sponge. Clean the glass gradually and neatly, so as not to scratch it. In many shops, scrubbers with sharp edges are sold – they should also be utilized with alert; however it is ideal to pick scrubbers with plastic edges for these reasons. The scratched glass looks ugly, and a short time later it will turn out to be exceptionally hard to clean it, since kelp or seaweed will be solidified in scratches, which will be hard to remove from. If the glass is overcrowded with algae excessively, it merits decreasing the lighting a bit.  In this case, you can add algae eating fish that eat algal bloom.

Cleaning of Apparatus

The radiator, filter, different apparatuses and style components must be expelled and washed. In this case, you should follow the instructions for these devices.

Cleaning the Filters

Care of the filter starts with the cleaning and substitution of cleaning components, it relies on upon the sort of filter. To clean the filter, you can utilize the producer’s guidelines. If synthetic threads or a sponge are used as filter elements, they must be washed. Many filter components such as coal or peat should be replaced periodically. A few materials such as limestone, crushed stone should be washed. Appropriate support is essential for a biological filter. The filter material is delicately flushed in a container of aquarium water. Before cleaning the biological filter, it is worth to lessen the load on it, diminishing the fish’s eating regimen one day before cleaning and after that steadily expanding it to typical level inside 3-6 days. 

Soil Cleaning

In this case, special devices are utilized such as siphons which evacuate little particles such as nourishment garbage and fish fertilizer that can begin to decay. It should be guaranteed that during the cleaning of the soil, don’t deplete excessively water, the same number of plants and fish are all around tolerated just by substituting a specific rate of water.

Care of Plants

In this case, expel the leaves that have turned yellow, strip if essential and clean the leaves from the residue that has settled on them. Plants utilize food waste as a food source. For optimum growth of plants fertilizer should be applied. In this case you should choose fertilizer which can soluble in water slowly. Choosing the perfect plants is also very very important.

Lighting

For proper lighting the aquarium, fluorescent lamps should be selected which emit less light. They should be changed about at regular intervals to keep up the correct lighting. You should also wash the lighting top, the top glass, the external dividers of the aquarium, the table etc.

Care of a few Components of Hardware

  • Rubber components and hoses should be replaced frequently.  
  • In air stones and in non-return valves, it is important to occasionally wash and replace air filters;
  • Sprays should be cleaned and periodically it should be changed;
  • Periodically grease up cylinder air stones and give for upkeep (flow the guidelines).

Aquarium Water Management

To manage aquarium water, you require extra learning, testing instruments. Remarkable changes of aquarium water can seriously influence the well-being of the neighborhood fauna. To keep your aquarium water sound, the accompanying measure should be taken:

  • Care for water in the aquarium is the most critical activities. A partial water change is required (10-12% of the volume, 2 times each month). In this case, the water should have the same composition with salinities and temperature;
  • Monitoring salinities of water, its temperature, pH, and different elements and composition;
  • Checking the operation of instruments;
  • Cleaning of glasses, design components;
  • Removal of overgrown plants; 
  • Adding calcium, different minerals and vitamins;
  • Removal of wastes; 
  • Check the number and health of fish and other aquarium occupants;
  • Replicating lights;
  • Replacing coal;
  • Greasing up motors and other equipment. 
  • During changing water, you must add sea salt at the rate of 7 g salt per liter of water and dissolve it. The density should to be 1022 – 1024 gm per liter;
  • The level of alkali and nitrites should not exceed 0.8 mg per liter.
  • The pH level should be over 7.8.
  • The temperature should be 26 ° C.

Final Verdict

The aquarium is a closed aquatic ecosystem. For betterment of your aquarium occupants, the aquarium needs consistent cleaning, care, checking the operation of the instruments, measuring the hydro-chemical parameters of the water and observing the health of the fish, and giving well-timed treatment. Keep in mind that periodic cleaning the aquarium looks ugly; plants and fish die more frequently. In this case, you need regular maintenance of the aquarium to keep your aquarium environment sound and healthy.

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