How to Have an Aquarium That Cleans Itself

Aquariums offer a microcosm of the aquatic world, one small enough to fit in your home but which still lets you marvel at the fish and plant life that lives underwater. One of the challenges of maintaining an aquarium is cleaning it. This is important both for aesthetic reasons as well as the health of the little ecosystem contained within the tank. Building a self-cleaning aquarium makes maintenance easier.

Instructions

• 1

  Put a layer of substrate in the tank. This encourages healthy bacterial and plant growth that will help regulate the ecological balance of the tank and keep it clean.

• 2

  Put in several aquatic plants -- available at commercial pet stores or aquarium supplies retailers. These plants will help purify the water and maintain ecological harmony. Place the plants in the aquarium a couple weeks before adding fish to allow them to take root.

• 3

  Install an automatic, self-regulating filter. The filter is powered by electricity or battery power and automatically filters out waste and other harmful matter.

• 4

  Add an automated water changer to the tank. These are also commercially available and have a programmable timer that regulates the pumping out of old, dirty water and the pumping in of fresh water.