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They’re a source of simple, peaceful joy. The bubble of the aerator, the hiss of the pump for the filter, the gentle dance of the fish around the habitat you’ve created for them, and the slow zen-like movement of your algae snail across the stones at the bottom of your tank. Within this one small container is a microcosm of the ocean at large, whether you’ve adorned it with sunken castles with hidden gold (fish) within, cracked skulls, or a lush sub-aquatic garden, Clean Your Aquarium Day reminds you that occasionally your tank is going to need a scrub.

History of Clean Your Aquarium Day

People get aquariums every year to enjoy the simple pleasures that being a fish owner brings. After all, they’re the perfect low maintenance pet, you feed them, check their filter, and once a year you clean the aquarium… You do clean their aquarium right? At least once a year? No? Oh my. Well, that’s what Clean Your Aquarium Day is for! For you to get in and remember to give your aquatic friends a little scrub so their tanks remain a pleasant and healthy place for them to live.

Not cleaning your tank can lead to some serious problems for fish, including a low oxygen level in the water, illness of the gills, Ick, and overall poor health and sluggishness. Thankfully it’s entirely possible to give your pets the best habitat ever just by giving it a scrub. You can often offset the build-up over the year by ensuring you have algae eaters, snails in particular are good for this purpose, and can help to keep your tank clean and free of algae. In saltwater tanks there are varieties of shrimp that are perfect for sweeping up the debris in your tank. It just takes a little care!

How to Celebrate Clean Your Aquarium Day

Celebrating clean your aquarium day is easy! You just need to get a small aquarium or plastic bag full of healthy, clean water and temporarily transfer your fish to it. Then you carefully empty the tank of water and proceed to wipe down the inside of the glass with a clean rag to get rid of the build-up there, and take out your décor items and give them a good rinsing. Finally, take out the aquarium rocks and give them a thorough cleansing by rinsing them repeatedly with fresh clean water. You shouldn’t need to use any kind of detergent, but if you choose to ensure that it is completely rinsed out so no harm comes to your fish, this really shouldn’t be necessary, and if you feel it is, probably better to replace the rocks. You can do this process just once a year, but Clean Your Aquarium Day should really just be a reminder to make sure it’s done, cleaning your tank once every couple of weeks is far better. If nothing else, make sure your tank gets cleaned on Clean Your Aquarium Day!

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