How Do I Clean a Fish Aquarium?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Hunter from the Austin Aqua-Dome. Keeping your aquarium clean is the most important part of owning a fish tank. The two most important tools for doing this are a siphon hose and a bucket. To clean the aquarium, put the end of the hose in the bucket, dip the bell of the siphon into the water and lift it out, let the water drain down and drop it back in, this will start the siphon. What you want to do is go along the bottom of the tank sucking debris out of the gravel. The siphon is only strong enough to pull the dirt up out of the gravel, leaving the gravel in place. The goal is to go over the entire bottom of the tank before the water level drains more than a third to a half way. After that, you want to dechlorinate the tank and fill it back up with fresh water. The other important thing to remember when doing aquarium maintenance is to either rinse or replace the filter pads in your mechanical filter."