THE IMPORTANCE OF AQUARIUM MAINTENANCE
Most people think of aquarium maintenance as something that “has” to be done, after a few months of aquarium ownership the maintenance is viewed more as a chore. When the overexciting joy of a new aquarium fades, it can be hard to set and keep up with a specific maintenance routine. Here’s why we place such an emphasis on the importance of aquarium maintenance:
LIVESTOCK
The livestock that inhabits your tank flourish and thrive in a clean, perfectly balanced and well maintained environment. Your fish are happier, swimming freely and interacting with others all across the aquarium. Your plants and corals are allowed to soak in all of their needed nutrients, displaying their bright and contrasting colors proudly.
During the service of an aquarium, everything ducks for cover. The fish find their favorite hiding spot under the rock and the corals recall their extended polyps. Some aquariums have been blessed with a curious fish friend who will actually come out to greet the one responsible for their newly cleaned home!
PESTS & ALGAE
Proper aquarium maintenance performed on a regular basis helps to keep the pests at bay. Reef pests such as aiptasia and majano anenomes can overtake and kill beloved corals of the tank if they are not stopped immediately. Bubble algae and common hair algae can ruin the beauty of any aquarium! But, some regular glass cleaning and sand filtering can remove harmful algae-causing detritus.
SCIENCE
In the ocean and in lakes, where our beloved fishy friends naturally reside, water changes occur naturally. These water changes take place through your favorite childhood ecology lesson, the water cycle! In the grand scheme of things, water is evaporated up and through precipitation, new water is added. Pretty simple, isn’t it? Unfortunately, we cannot rely on evaporation and precipitation to maintain our aquariums for us (although that would be extremely helpful!). We need some way to introduce the water cycle indoors. In order to replicate this natural occurrence, we must manually remove the water ourselves and then add clean and purified water in its place.
During this process known as a “water change”, our goal is to remove any nitrates left remaining in the water. These nitrates are produced in a little something called the nitrogen cycle! Ammonia is produced from fish waste (yes, everyone poops), the ammonia is then converted into nitrite before finally ending up as nitrate. Proper mechanical and biological filtration rapidly forces the ammonia into nitrite and then quickly converts that into nitrate. Any traceable levels of ammonia or nitrite in an aquarium can be EXTREMELY deadly for the inhabitants. For this reason, careful planning when first beginning to setup a new aquarium is imperative to its long-term success.
SUMMARY
The lack of a finely-tuned and strictly followed aquarium maintenance plan can prove to be detrimental to even the most established aquatic environments. Aquarium maintenance, to us, is not an obligation, it’s an opportunity, an opportunity to completely renew and refresh an aquarium. Let the experts at Blue Paradise customize a full service plan so that your aquarium can reach its full potential!
Call today! 214-952-7490