Maintaining Your Goldfish Aquarium

Goldfish are wonderful pets and a joy to behold. Watching them swim around the tank can give an unexplainable tranquility. That's why it is important to provide them with a good and safe environment.

In this article, you will learn how you can maintain a perfect tank for your lovely, golden, swimming pets. Make sure the aquarium is large enough for the goldfish to move freely. The ideal measurement of your fish tank must be 24 inches by 24 inches by 10 inches. Of course, this depends on how many fish you want to keep and if you are planning on more than one fish, you should plan on 5 gallons of tank space for every inch of fish. Make sure that you have 2 inches of sand or round gravel at the bottom of the aquarium. Remember that tap water is not safe for your fish.

Treating the tap water with water conditioner is one way to make the water safer, but many aquarium enthusiasts like to use bottled water. Never use distilled water or ionized water. When you add water to your aquarium, either when setting it up or when doing partial water change, make sure the sand or gravel is not disturbed. Always cover your aquarium making sure that dirt and other unnecessary objects will not get into your aquarium. Goldfish are hardy, but also can pollute their water very fast so it is important to do partial water changes periodically.

Every couple of weeks, or at least once a month is recommended.Pour out only 20 -25% of the water and replace it with fresh water. Be careful not to stress out the fish too much during this process and be sure not to capture any in the water you are changing out! When you first set up your tank, it will be clean and clear, but after several weeks, algae will start to conquer your fish tank. This algae can be green, brown or red and sometimes may even be black.

To get rid of the algae, you will need to scrub down the tank and all the decorations inside. Do not use hard scrubbing pads. Soft pads will help keep your tank from getting scratched - especially if you have an acrylic aquarium. Scrub all the sides the front the back and the two ends. You will need to use some elbow grease and scrub the glass back in forth many times until it is clean.

Scrub everything in your fish tank including the filters and other objects as well. It is not necessary to remove them in their tank for cleaning unless it is already really scummy and dirty. Then rinse everything thoroughly. Remember never to use soap, chlorine or bleach to clean anything in your aquarium. If you need to remove the goldfish for cleaning, do so carefully and make sure you have a safe place with good water to put them in.

Put them back in their tank as soon as possible.

Lee Dobbins is a pet lover and fish tank owner who writes for Fish Tank Care where you can learn more about caring for your fish tank.