Below are the materials that you will need in cleaning your dirty fish tank:

* washbasin/bucket of clean water
* empty washbasin
* algae pad
* lime cleaner
* water siphon
 
Step 1. Before cleaning the aquarium, make sure to unplug all the electric gadgets inside it. Never touch the water unless you are sure that you have unplugged the electric gadgets. Take off all the decorations inside and set aside or you may lay them on an empty washbasin. However, the fish should remain in the tank.
 
Step 2: Start by scrubbing the walls with an algae pad. When the water becomes unclean, remove some water but make sure not to leave the tank empty. You can remove at least 3/4 of the dirty water. The remaining should be enough for the fish to swim and breathe for along the process of cleaning, you are not going to remove the fish nor transfer them to other container. 
 
Step 3:  Vacuum the gravel with a water siphon. Slide the water siphon along the bottom of the tank. You may start from left corner then to the other corner, following the rectangular sides of the tank.
 
Step 4: In the separate bucket of water, drop an anti-chlorine solution. Read the instruction in its label. It is very important that the water is chlorine free.  Then add this water to the water that you left for the fish. Then you are done working with the walls and floor.
 
Step 5: It is now time to work on the aquarium decorations which may include rocks, artificial aquarium plants, and similar others.  Clean by brushing with soft bristles of a toothbrush or a small brush.
 
It is not advisable to clean the filters when you clean the aquarium. Tank decorations and filters contain bacteria which are beneficial for the fish. It would be best not to disturbed their bacteria at the same time. So wait for another week to clean the filters.
 
Step 6: The next to work on is the hood. Sometimes, lime may reside in hoods. Many lime cleaners are available in the market. Apply them in the hood, then rinse thoroughly. Remember lime cleaners are dangerous to fish so it is important to rinse the surface thoroughly.
 
Step 7: Dry the entire hood with a clean cloth.

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