Saltwater Aquarium Care and Maintenance

A strict maintenance schedule must be in place for your saltwater fish and other inhabitants to thrive and survive in your aquarium.

Your inhabitants will stay healthier and your saltwater aquarium’s physical environment will look cleaner.

Proper and routine cleaning is the key to success and is beneficial.

Remember that you have to be fully dedicated to this kind of hobby to avoid not only saltwater fish and other inhabitants’ loss but also your money’s worth.

Let's start by asking how often do you need to clean your saltwater aquarium? How often does maintenance takes place? Well it all depends on the following questions:

How big is your aquarium?

What kind of filter/s do you use?

What types of inhabitants to you have?

How many do you have?

How often do you feed them?

Decide on how often your saltwater aquarium needs cleaning based on the question above.

Here is a suggestion or recommendation on how often your saltwater aquarium should be checked and what should be checked and/or be monitored.

Daily

Make sure all equipments are running properly.

Salinity (refer to the guideline of acceptable water parameters)

Temperature (at least twice a day – in the morning and at night)

Check your fish making sure their activity is normal. Checking this daily will help you find out the first signs of disease and treat it early.

Weekly and/or Bi-Weekly

Partial water change (15-20% of your saltwater aquarium)

Vacuum gravel or sand.

Check water parameters – pH, Hardness, Nitrite, Nitrate (refer to the guideline of acceptable water parameters)

Rinse your filter. It’s a good idea to rinse it with your old aquarium water that you are changing. Using chlorinated water will cause temperature change and can kill the bacteria that accumulated.