The Best Way to Clean Fish Tank Glass

Having a fish tank in your home can be a beautiful learning experience for your family. Fish in captivity depend on their owners to keep their tanks and water clean. If a tank is not kept clean the pH levels of the water could kill your fish. So it is important to take the proper steps to ensure that your fish remain happy and healthy by keeping the glass clean.

Things You'll Need

  • Algae scraper
  • Siphon
  • Bucket
  • De-chlorinated water
  • Glass cleaner
  • Paper towels
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Instructions

    • 1

      Use the algae scrubber to gently slough off algae growth on the glass. It will naturally float around in little pieces in the tank and that is OK. Your fish may even eat some of it; it will not harm them. If you have live plants in your fish tank, remove any dead or browning leaves. Dead leaves will cause unhealthy bacteria growth in your tank.

    • 2

      Begin to siphon out 10 to 15 percent of your tank's water. You can do this by using a fish tank siphon and an empty bucket. Be careful not to suck any of your fish into the siphon. You can avoid this by sucking water directly from the rear filter entryway. If you have large fish that cannot be sucked into the siphon, it is fine to siphon directly from the top of the tank.

    • 3

      Replace the siphoned water with clean de-chlorinated water. You can use bottled water, distilled water or filtered tap water. Pour the water very slowly into the filter intake chamber. This way you do not disturb the fish or healthy bacterial growth.

    • 4

      Clean the outside of the tank using a gentle glass cleaner. Do not spray the cleaner directly on the tank so that you avoid any of it splashing into the tank and harming your fish. Spray the cleaner on a paper towel and then clean the glass.

    • 5

      Take preventative measures to ensure that algae growth is maintained. You can do this by periodically checking your filtration system to make sure it is working correctly, changing filters often, and purchasing algae eater fish. Fiddler crabs, ghost shrimp and brine shrimp introduced to your tank will help keep the tank clean. They eat the extra food, fish waste, algae and bacteria that go to the bottom of the tank.