Weekly & monthly care
Before you begin, make sure you have all the kit you'll need for each task - a bucket, a net, a magnetic glass cleaner, a gravel cleaner, fish food, tap water conditioner, an aquarium test kit and replacement filter service packs.
Now you are ready to begin! Read through our top tips on how to keep your aquarium in A1 condition, so your fish look beautiful and feel great.
- Clean the inside of the aquarium glass with a magnetic aquarium glass cleaner. If the outside of the glass needs cleaning, wipe down using distilled water and a soft cloth. Never use abrasive cloths or chemical cleaning products.
- Top up the water if there has been any evaporation.
- Feed your live plants with a specialist aquarium plant food.
- If needed, clean the LED light with distilled water and dry with a soft cloth. Turn them off for a few minutes before cleaning.
- Test your aquarium water levels for invisible ammonia, nitrite and pH; you can purchase specific test kits for this.
- Complete a 25% aquarium volume water change – (see Doing a water change, and video) and clean the gravel using an aquarium gravel cleaner.
- Replace the LIFE FLOW cartridge, available in singles or packs of 3. Remove and discard the old, dirty cartridge and slot in the new one.
- If you have live plants, trim back any excess plant growth and remove any dead leaves.
- Turn off the power to your filter and remove it from the aquarium. Unclip the intake cage and rinse in fresh water, removing any dead leaves or large dirt trapped in the intake grills.
- Next, remove the impellor cover and impellor and clean them and the inside of the motor where the impellor sits with a small brush.
- Put the impellor and cover back together and install the filter back to the aquarium and switch back on. You might experience some harmless bubbles leaving the filter for the first minute or two.
- Each year you should replace the pump impellor.