Weekly tank maintenance is essential to the health of your fish. This is the right way to remove Ammonia,

Nitrate and other toxic elements from water.Water changes are necessary. Maintenance usually involves

scraping algae, cleaning the gravel /substrate, removing and replacing about 20%-30% of the water.

If necessary filters should be take care of too.

Recommended tools: 

1- Bucket- Make sure to have large, clean buckets, it will make water changes easier.      

2- Gravel Vacuum.-This is simply a tube with one end larger than the other, but it is essential to the

health of your fish.

3- Algae scraper.

4-Dechlorinator 

Instructions for weekly tank maintenance: 

Algae- Get out your algae scraper and begin removing it from the tank sides.             

Wave box/power heads- Unplug it, you don’t want them to burned              

Heater- Turn off the heater.    

Let's get it done: 

Place a bucket directly below your tank. Insert the larger end into the tank until it reaches the bottom;

you'll have to keep a hand on this end at all times. Get a siphon started in one of two ways. Suck on the

smaller end until water just passes the highest point of the vac tube quickly put the end into the bucket.

The more hygienic way is to purchase a self-starter kit. Just put it in the tank and fill the cylinder with

water lift it up and let it start to drain then dip it back in the water and you should have suction after that.

Either way you chose, water will begin flowing from the tank to the bucket without you doing any work.

Gravitational potential energy does it for you. Move the larger end that is still in the tank back and f

orth through the gravel. Lighter particles such as body wastes and uneaten food will be sucked into the vac,

leaving the heavier gravel behind. Once about 20% to 30% of the tank water has been removed, stop the

siphon by raising the larger end above the now lower water line.

Filter- If you noticed that your filter's flow rate has been reduced in the past week, it is likely due to clogs.

Take your filter media and give it a light rinse in the bucket water. Never clean a filter using only tap water,

as the chlorine and chloramine will kill all of the cycle bacteria.

Refilling- Double check that no fish made their way into the bucket, then empty out the bucket into your

lawn or toilet. Add the appropriate amount of Dechlorinator (use manual guide) to the bucket, and then refill

it using tap water. In winter adjust your tap-water to the temperature of your tank. Make sure the

temperature of this new water is nearly equal to the tank's water. Now it is time to carefully add the new

water to your tank.

Turning everything back on- If necessary, put the filter material back into the filter and turn

everything back on.

Job done- If you like, you can test your water parameters before and/or after water changes to ensure

20%to 25% is enough. If your nitrates are still high, say greater than 70 ppm, you are likely over stocked

or your tap-water contains high amounts of nitrates.

Over stocked tanks should be taken care of more often.