By : Monica L. Garrett
How to Care for Large Aquariums
Maintaining a large aquarium can be very simple if you adopt the philosophy of overcompensating. If you read the labels on pumps and filters at your local pet store, you'll buy a filtration system that will keep you changing your water and cleaning your aquarium more often than you would like. Overcompensate by purchasing a pond pump and filter. This will cut your water changes down to once a month or less. This is compared to weekly or bi-weekly at best with the recommended filtration system. Of course, this varies depending on what lives in your aquarium. Goldfish and koi require more maintenance than a tropical community. Neither compare to the waste produced by turtles. Frogs, on the other hand, produce very little waste.
Next, you'll need to invest in Purigen. Having tried everything on the market to keep crystal clean water in my aquariums, I was thrilled to find Purigen, which when used in my filter, cleared cloudy water in less than twelve hours.
Lastly, you'll need a python. This will make cleaning your aquarium so much easier. Just hook the python up to your faucet and use the suction to clean the gravel or substrate. You'll vacuum out the old water in the process and can then reverse the python to refill the aquarium.
Remember to clean the filters first so you do not get waste from the filters in your freshly cleaned aquarium. Don't forget to unplug aquarium heaters before doing a water change and be sure to follow safety precautions. Add water conditioner, per instructions on package, while refilling the aquarium. Tap water is dangerous to fish.
In order to be sure your water stays safe between cleanings, be sure to put an ammonia monitoring device in the aquarium and keep a test kit on hand to check the water quality. If you keep live plants in the aquarium, you'll need to read up on the products you are using to make sure they are plant friendly. Be aware that small flowering plants can cause filtration problems by getting sucked up through the filtration system and clogging it up. A major problem that leads to poor water quality in an aquarium is overfeeding. You do not want to put in more food than your fish will consume in five minutes. If you do, especially with flakes, the food will just sink and settle on the bottom of the tank.
Once you establish a large aquarium with proper filtration and water quality, you'll enjoy a fascinating hobby will minimal work.
