But it won't be good to leave your fishes in a new place for very long, so before emptying the
fish tank, you must keep all the required material to clean the tank handy enough to do the job
as quickly as possible.
So the first thing you arrange for is the alternate tank to keep your fish that need not be very
large but it should be large enough to place all your fishes and allowing them enough space to
swim. Not to mention, the size of this alternate tank purely depends on the number of fishes
you have.
Now here is a list of the things you require to clean the tank:
i. A fish net to take our your fish from the tank
ii. A towel and/or paper towels in order to wipe away the spills
iii. A water pitcher and/or a bucket to refill the tank
iv. A food drainer
v. A clean sponge
vi. A clean rag
Step 2: Removing the Fish from the Tank
You must take care of the following things while removing the fishes from the fish tank:
i. Make sure that the alternate container is also set to place the fish in it.
ii. The temperature of water in the alternate container must be almost similar to that in
the fish tank or the fishes would go in to shock.
iii. Place the fishes one-by-one in the new container. You can do this by catching each
fish with a net.
iv. The moment all the fishes are placed in the alternate container place it in a clean and
safe place where you are sure that the water won't spill.
v. Remember when you place the fishes in a new place for the beginning they make a
lot of movement which might lead to spilling of the water. So the container must be
selected accordingly. These movements are also considerably reduced with the
right temperature of water.
Step 3: Removing Old Water from the Fish Tank
Once you have moved your fish out of the tank, now its time to empty the water in the fish tank.
This could be the messiest job out of all the process, so here are a few tips to make it easy:
i. Use a pitcher or small bucket to remove the water of the fish tank.
ii. Dispose this water in to the toilet or a sink.
iii. Try not to remove the entire water form the fish tank.
iv. Usually in case of a fresh water aquarium you should empty 3/4th part of the total
water.
v. The rest 1/4th helps you in the acclimation of the new water that you would add later.
Step 4: Removing & Cleaning the Gravel in the Tank
Most of the dirt & waste of the fish tank gathers in the gravel placed at the bottom. So cleaning
it well is indeed very important. Here are some simple tips to clean the gravel:
i. First remove all the gravel from the tank.
ii. For this you can make use of the following equipments:
a fish net,
a dust pan, and
a small scoop.
iii. Now place the gravel in some type of strainer.
iv. Place this strainer filled with gravel under hot water.
v. Keep mixing the gravel while rinsing it, in order to get rid of all sediments and wastes
that have settled down.
vi. Now place it aside safely, as we shall add to the fish tank later.
Step 5: Cleaning Your Tank
This step refers to cleaning the inside portion of the tank. Here are some tips on the same:
i. Here your main job is to clean up the algae built inside the tank.
ii. Algae builds up when the temperature of the water in the tank is to warm or the fish
tank is exposed to direct sunlight.
