Things You'll Need
- Water test kit
- Siphon with vacuum
- Bigger filter
- Fish food
- Live plants
Instructions
Change 15 percent to 20 percent of the water in the aquarium daily. Before each water change, test the nitrate levels. If the nitrate levels have come down to a normal level, then you can stop the daily water changes. To prevent the nitrates from building up again, the authors of "Freshwater Aquariums for Dummies" recommend that you perform weekly water changes of about 20 percent.
Use a vacuum at the end of your siphon when making any water changes. Use it to siphon up loose debris from the surface of the gravel or sand in the tank.
Remove any floating dead plant leaves when cleaning the tank. You can do this by hand or by using a fish net.
Feed the fish twice a day and only as much food as they will eat in one minute. Your goal is to prevent any food from falling to the bottom of the tank and rotting.
Move some of the fish to another tank. Fewer fish in a tank will produce less ammonia to convert to nitrates.
Buy a new and larger filter for the fish tank. If you have a 20-gallon tank with a filter designed for a 10- to 20-gallon tank, move up a size to a 20- to 30-gallon filter.
Add live plants to your tank. Plants use nitrites and nitrates, removing these substances from the water.