by Andy Ting

Created on: November 13, 2008

Goldfish are cute and adorable and it seems to most that taking care of them is extremely easy. However, apathic cleaning techniques can harm the fish. Many novices spend little time taking care of their fish, and they end up killing their fish. I, myself, have seen fish die due to lack of proper cleaning techniques. The hardest part of cleaning the fish tank is removing the fish. I find it easiest to scoup it out using a small net rather than pouring it into another tank.

This is a step by step process which can be improvised, but it is a summary of how to clean a fishbowl:

A fishbowl generally needs to be cleaned once or twice a week so don't procrastinate and wait for the filth to become unbearable before planning to clean it. To clean it, pour some of the water from the existing bowl to another clean bowl or you could have another bowl with clean water. Clean water is water at room temperature that a) tap water that has been sitting out for 24 hours or b) tap water with chlorine neutralizers added. Then gently place the fish into another container of some sort i.e. another tank or a small bowl with a small net. Pour out the dirty water and catch the rocks, plants, i.e. Fill the tank with warm-lukewarm water and scrub the tank with a sponge or paper towel. Pour out the water and repeat for approximately 3-5 times. On the last time, rinse it with cold water. Whenever you clean it, never use soap. Add new water to the tank and let it sit for 24 hours for the chlorine to evaporate and for the water to return to room temperature or you could add a chlorine neutralizer. Finally replace the fish back into the clean tank.

Other tips for cleaning:

1) You should be sure to rinse the decorations like rocks and plants thoroughly to avoid contamination of the clean water. You don't want all of your hard work to be for nothing ;)

2) You will need the following:

a chlorine neutralizer (which removes the chlorine and its compounds from the water)

another tank (to store the fish while cleaning the first one)

a sponge (to scrub off the layered grime and other substances)

a fish net (to move the fish between the first and second tank)

You can get most of these from a local pet store.

3) Do not use soap to clean the tanks because there will be some residue which will end up harming most types of fish. Also do not use tap water, because it contains traces of chlorines which also harms fish.

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