Category:Maintenance
From ReefPedia
Aquarium Maintenance Category
Maintenance is a necessary task for the long-term health of any saltwater or reef aquarium.
Failure to exercise routine maintenance can often lead to many tank problems, including but not limited to:
- Algae problems
- Nitrate issues - See Nitrate for more information.
- Decreased equipment life, especially pumps
- Inadequate light levels
- Generally unhappy fish, corals, inverts and tank owners
Tank maintenance is pretty easy to stay on top of when you're new to the hobby- you're so excited about everything, you genuinely want to spend time doing things like water changes and cleaning skimmers and pumps.
But as time goes by, the novelty of such activities wears off. This is where the reefer, and the reef, enter the danger zone. First, you let it slide a week. Then a couple weeks. Then a month or two. And before you know it, you have a tank no one is happy with, and a mountain of work ahead, to get it back to where it should be. There is no such thing as a "no Maintenance aquarium" but there is such a thing as a "low maintenance system". By learning key maintenance techniques and practicing good chemistry, your aquarium can be low maintenance as well.
As this section grows, take a look at the articles here. Not only will they help you perform maintenance, but they should stress the importance of each activity. It is a long-term benefit of your tank, and your satisfaction in the hobby, if you practice proper maintenance habits, consistently. Patients and consistency are two main ingredients to success!
