Maintaining a saltwater fish tank can often time be viewed as a tedious and time draining activity or chore. The truth is, saltwater fish tanks do take time and dedication, but the rewards and enjoyment they offer outweigh the effort owners put into their tanks. It is our hope that this article provides all hobbyists and non-hobbyists with the information needed to maintain their own aquarium without having to spend huge amounts of time on aquarium maintenance.

The Basics to Saltwater Tank Upkeep

To maintain your saltwater tank, there are different tasks that need to be taken in daily, weekly, and monthly timeframes. The tasks might seem daunting but, by the time you get all the tasks down you will find that 15 to 30 minutes will be all you need to perform all these tasks on a daily basis.
Daily Tasks
Daily, you would feed your tank’s inhabitants (once in the morning and at night), but also make sure to clean the glass of your tank from algae using an algae cleaning magnet. Keep in mind too that depending on where you might live, the water in your tank might be lowering daily because of evaporation so, keep track of that and replace the water lost. What we like to do as well is to wipe and clean the outside of the protein skimmer to boost its efficiency and to prevent it from getting gunked up with waste.
Weekly Tasks
Test the water levels by using a high quality and consistent kit to make sure the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate levels are correct. (include calcium and alkalinity if you own coral) You also want to remove, empty, clean, and replace your protein skimmer.
Monthly Tasks
You will notice salt and calcium deposits start to form outside the tank. Clean it, as it is not esthetically pleasing, by vigorously scrubbing with a vinegar-soaked sponge. It would be a good habit to get into if you also clean all your pumps, tubing, and overflow box thoroughly at this point as well.

Consistnecy and Dedication Make for Great Tanks

The most time-consuming part of all saltwater fish tank maintenance is partial water replacement. This should be done every two weeks to a month depending on a number of inhabitants in your tank and how much waste is produced. When you do this, make sure to only replace about 10% of the water in the tank as you do not want to disrupt you tank’s inhabitants too much.
Other chores would include to constantly check your bulbs and to make sure they are lighting in the correct spectrum and intensity, replace if needed. This also applies to your pumps, protein skimmer, and all the piping in your saltwater fish tank.

Contact OCD Reefs with any Questions or Concerns

As mentioned before, this information will provide you with a maintenance schedule. But it may take a considerably extended amount of time and effort depending on how many species are kept and what specific attention they may need, and the size and complexity of your system. Following this schedule and guidelines will hopefully allow you to maintain any marine aquarium and reef without spending countless hours every day. Being consistent is the ultimate secret so you can have a thriving marine and reef aquarium that you can be proud to show off.