Any aquarium owner knows that in order to keep your living picture healthy and alive, you need to take care of aquarium maintenance. If you want your fish to stay healthy, you will need to clean your aquarium on some kind of regular basis.

Although cleaning your aquarium is an inevitable task for any aquarium owner, there are several ways to minimize the frequency with which the task must be undertaken. One of the best ways is to purchase living organisms that will help you in keeping your aquarium clean. Not only will they help you with the chore, but they can add to the overall appearance of your aquatic display as well! Here are some of the most popular of the living aquarium cleaners.

Single celled organisms

While most people think "ew" when they think bacteria, the fact is that there are many forms of bacteria that are beneficial to different environments, and the aquarium is no exception. Bacteria, which convert toxic chemicals into nitrates, are especially desirable in an aquarium. These will reproduce naturally in the aquarium, but their growth can be sped up through the use of special biological filters. In fact, these organisms live on many fish and just adding more fish to the aquarium will result in greater numbers of bacteria!

Invertebrates

Another popular way to keep a fish tank clean is to use a couple of different kinds of invertebrates. These little guys are the caretakers out in the natural world as well; they survive on some of the smallest living matter there is, and thus keep algae forms from growing too large. They include snails and several crustaceans, such as crabs and crayfish. Just make sure they don’t get too big, the crustaceans in particular can be harmful to your fish!

Fish

For the breakdown of bigger particles, you can complement your aquarium population with cleaning fish. There are large ranges within this type, and the most popular are the bottom feeders. These guys will eat any food particles that settle on the bottom of the aquarium, as well as break down organic matter.

Using living organisms to clean your aquarium is great, because it means less work for you and they can be fascinating to watch all on their own. Just remember to keep in mind that as with anything in your aquarium, balance is key, and you will still have to clean your tank out yourself once in a while!