When your fish tank gets dirty, the walls of the home aquarium start to develop a shade of brown and green. At first, the worst thoughts come to mind regarding the quality of the aquarium. Your freshwater tank begins to look like a disaster, and you want to give up. However, if you act fast enough, you can save your fish tank from becoming a failure. As a hobbyist, you want to act as soon as possible to save your freshwater fish. Therefore, take proper action and seek help immediately. Do not worry, and we are here to help!
In this article, we will be going over the possible reasons why your aquarium gets dirty so fast! There could be a ton of possible reasons. However, we will diagnose the most common conditions of an aquarium that drives the tank to be dirty. If one of these methods does not work, contact your local fish store to assist with the problem. Worst-case scenario, you hire aquarium maintenance professional to clean your tank. Fortunately, freshwater tanks are a bit easier to care for compared to saltwater aquariums. After reading this article and testing your aquarium, you should be good to go! Here are our top reasons as to why your fish tank is getting dirty so fast!
Improper Filtration
The number one leading cause of an immediate dirty tank is poor filtration. There are so many different filters for various fish tanks. For example, basic fish tanks have a typical hang on filters that need to be changed regularly. If your home aquarium has one of these hangs on filters, check the replaceable filter media. When the filter media has an appearance that is covered in black and brown, it is time for a new filter media! If you replace the filter media roughly once a month, you should be good to go! After completing the change, your aquarium should start to eliminate the dirty appearance.
Next, if you have a saltwater aquarium, you usually have a saltwater sump. The sump of the fish tank acts as a natural water flow that filters the water with movements. Bio balls are also in the sump to piece out the stray particles. The balls also act as a beneficial bacteria home for the aquarium. If you have an aquarium with a sump tank, there may be a clog in the plumbing. For example, if you have a ton of fish, you tend to feed them more food. However, all of the fish waste and fish food can get trapped in the filter and cause clogging. The clogging prevents the filter from properly removing the harmful components. To fix this, check your plumbing immediately. If there is build up in the plumbing, remove the particles ASAP!
Lack of Water Changes
Water changes are necessary for the success and well being of your freshwater fish tank. If you do not change the water, you will see that your fish tank becomes dirty fast. When changing the water, you must conduct several steps to ensure success.
How to Complete a Water Change
When you start a water change, take out all the decor that is not alive in your aquarium. When it comes to living plants, leave them in the gravel to limit the stress on them! You can use a soft brush to remove any algae or particles on the plant. The plant will help reduce the waste in your aquarium! Regarding the decor in your aquarium, you can use a more intense brush to remove algae and particles. After cleaning the decor, place the items next to the aquarium while you conduct the rest of the water change process.
Next, use a siphon to remove the additional waste in your aquarium substrate. The substrate in your fish tank can either be gravel, sand, or large rocks. Carefully siphon the rocks and allow the water to soak up in the funnel and create a siphon. Make sure to cover every part of your aquarium. However, if you have a fish tank that is larger than 30 gallons, it may be difficult to cover everything.
When it comes to larger fish tanks, it may take a lot longer to conduct these siphons. Be patient and try your best to cover the whole surface area of your aquarium. While you are siphoning the water, you will notice that the water coming out will be a dark brown or black color. Do not be alarmed by the color. The dark color is perfectly normal when removing from the gravel. If the main aquarium water is a dark brown or black color, that is something to be worried about!
Next Steps
The next step is to siphon the main water in your aquarium! Use the siphon to remove the water components in your fish tank. While you are removing the water, be careful with the fish swimming around. There are horror stories of people implementing water changes and accidentally sucking up their fish. The fish usually survives when this occurs if you notice the fish missing. However, in rare cases, the fish might not survive. When removing the water, estimate around thirty percent of your water to be removed. You do not want to take out too much water because this will result in your aquarium losing a ton of beneficial bacteria. After removing the water, dump the dirty water in a safe location. Be cautious of your local laws regarding locations to dump water!
The last step is to create new water for your aquarium. New hobbyists believe that you can use sink water to replace the dirty water in your aquarium. However, the statement is not accurate at all! You must make sure to remove all the additional harmful elements in tap water. The same concept for humans is present when looking at clean and dirty air. When replacing your fish tank water, make sure to use filtered water from a bottle or jug. You can use sink water only when you apply water conditioning and proper chemicals. After the chemicals are added, you can use the water! One factor to keep in mind is the temperature of the water. You do not want to put water in your fish tank that is too hot or too cold!
Overfeeding the Fish
All aquarium hobbyists are guilty of overfeeding the fish in their aquarium. The fish in your aquarium are your babies, so you want to make sure they are well fed. However, keep in mind the fish’s stomach is only the size of their eyeball. Therefore, they do not need 100 flakes in their stomach to be well fed. Be aware of fish like goldfish, they NEVER stop eating when you feed them. It can be easy to overfeed the fish. They do not stop! When feeding your fish, keep the portions in check. As an aquarium hobbyist, you can even use chopsticks to give proper portions! The next time you feed your fish, keep this article in mind!
Direct Sunlight
An aquarium might look incredible next to a window or an open door. However, placement causes potential problems in the future. After a while, the aquarium will start to obtain a case of regular and hair algae on the walls and decor. The hall of algae is due to the sunlight hitting the aquarium. To make matters worse, when the sunlight is present, so is the light in your aquarium. If the fish tank light is on while the sunlight is shining, this is a recipe for disaster. If you notice your aquarium being in direct sunlight, it might be a great idea to move the tank! When the task is too large for you, contact your local fish store. Your local fish store most likely has a maintenance team that can move the fish tank for you! Average rates of moving run at around 90 dollars an hour.
In Conclusion
Using these factors, you now have a better idea of why your aquarium is getting dirty so fast! Go down the list of causes on this article and test each aspect. For example, if you notice that you feed your fish too often, feed them less! It is crucial to identify the problem and fix the problem immediately. After the fish tank problem is diagnosed, your aquarium will be happy and healthy! Please send us a message if you have any questions or concerns. We are always here to help and want to see your aquarium look fantastic! Thank you for reading, and I hope this helps you!
