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Questions tagged [maintenance]

The process of maintaining, or preserving, something. Either by making repairs or replacements to it.

When you're looking to learn how to maintain something, you should use this tag. Maintenance questions could be anything from "How do I reseal an aquarium?", or "How to I replace the substrate for my snake?".

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How can I permanently reduce the pH level of my aquarium?

I have an aquarium with some rocks and substrate mixture, and about 15 small fishes. The pH level of the water is always high (7.6 - 8), away from the recommended value for the fishes I have. I want to fix the pH level permanently; I don't want to…
woliveirajr
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Discouraging cat from scratching couch

I have never had pets, but recently a friend of mine was in serious trouble and asked me to care for her cat. I did my best to accommodate it as well as I could. The house is vast, has a beautiful garden around it, and as suggested I bought a big…
Matteo Monti
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How does one effectively "cycle" an aquarium?

I have read that prior to putting fish in an aquarium, one must "cycle" the tank so that bacteria that oxidize ammonia will produce nitrite, and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria will make nitrate. I understand the chemistry behind it, but I'm not really…
Peter Grace
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How to remove the algae from the glass of an aquarium?

I have an aquarium and it has algae on the glass. The algae is somehow so attached to the glass that I´m afraid I'd scratch the glass if I tried to clean it using some hard plastic. How can I remove the algae without damaging the glass?
woliveirajr
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Does a pond have to be covered with a net during fall?

There are several different trees and bushes surrounding our pond. As fall season peaks, the amount of leaves and needles falling into the pond gets quite high. There are koi, sturgeon and goldfish living in the pond. We have a skimmer to clean the…
Baarn
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Can I repair a leaking aquarium without removing all the water and fish?

If my aquarium begins to leak, I know I could repair it by removing everything, applying silicone (or another sealant), waiting for it to cure, and then starting over. If the leakage is at the top of the aquarium, can I drain just enough water to…
woliveirajr
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Would a new 500 L marine aquarium need to be cycled again if upgraded from 80 L nearly finished cycling?

I have a 500 L aquarium I would like to fill with saltwater and eventually fish. I have an 80 L tank starting to cycle now on the 3rd week, containing about 2 kg of live rock. I plan to partially fill the 500 L tank with the contents, filter and…
user214
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Is the "Million Bubble Air Pump" necessary for the long-term health of sea-monkeys?

I got my son a Sea-Monkey set several months ago. It's just a very basic set, which had the eggs, the plastic tank, some food, and a feeding spoon. It's been doing very well, and we've had multiple generations of sea-monkeys, but the instructions…
Beofett
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Is it ok if I stir the substrate of my aquarium?

I have an aquarium with a 5 cm (+- 2 in) rock-and-clay pellets substrate. I stir it every 6 months, to remove some of algae and so on that is deposited there. That way, the water gets a bit muddy and in about 6 hours the filter takes care of it. I…
woliveirajr
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How do I eliminate the black algae from my planted aquarium?

My aquarium has live plants with a betta, hatchet fish, barbs, a cory, and a Siamese algae eater. Black algae is growing on the decorations and glass. I scraped it off the glass. What else should I do to keep it from coming back? My tank is not…
Jeni
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How do I do a water change in my fish tank?

I have seen many questions asking how often one should do a water change for different circumstances in a freshwater aquarium, and so on, which got me wondering. I never knew, until I was on this site, that you were supposed to do water changes in a…
user53
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Are enzyme treatments more effective than vinegar for removing rabbit urine?

In this answer, I was directed to use an enzyme treatment like "Natures Miracle" on my rabbit's pee stains. To date, I've always used vinegar, which seemed to work well. Enzyme treatments are more expensive than vinegar. Are enzyme treatments more…
virtualxtc
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How can I keep a guinea pig clean?

We recently adopted a guinea pig and in contrast to our rabbits, he's a smelly slob. We clean his cage every other day, yet he's still musty. He has a litter pan which he uses, but still occasionally decides to pee on the cage floor and then sleep…
virtualxtc
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Why do you need to change the water in your fish tank?

There are several posts here about the right ways and wrong ways to change water in your fish tank, and all the ways it can go wrong. Why do you need to change it? It would seem unlikely that water would wear-out, you need to manage the pH and…
James Jenkins
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How to reduce the smell of ammonia in horse's stall

How can I reduce the smell of ammonia from my horses stall? My horse is still young (3 years old) and currently makes quite a mess in her bed every morning. She will defecate and urinate all over the stall and then mix it in/dig holes and lay in it…
SimplyRedAppaloosa
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