Cleaning advice

[Care_bear]

My daughter has a fish tank with platy fish, and I'd like some advice on cleaning please. Sorry this is a stupid question.

When we do the regular water change, do we siphon from the bottom every time? Do we siphon over the top of the gravel, or move/mix the gravel every time to try to get all the debris out from under it?

At the moment I'm trying to get all the debris I can by disturbing the gravel, but this clouds the water and probably upsets the fish? It occurred to me I might be doing it wrong.

Thanks

Tank 24L
2 adult platies, and *at the moment* 6 'children', 6 'baby' platies and more due soon - some will be re-homed when bigger.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

My daughter has a fish tank with platy fish, and I'd like some advice on cleaning please. Sorry this is a stupid question.

When we do the regular water change, do we siphon from the bottom every time? Do we siphon over the top of the gravel, or move/mix the gravel every time to try to get all the debris out from under it?

At the moment I'm trying to get all the debris I can by disturbing the gravel, but this clouds the water and probably upsets the fish? It occurred to me I might be doing it wrong.

Thanks

Tank 24L
2 adult platies, and *at the moment* 6 'children', 6 'baby' platies and more due soon - some will be re-homed when bigger.

I put my siphon at an angle in the tank, (make sure it is sucking up first) and then I push it into the gravel, as far as it will go and the I pull it back up. (Do the hole tank this way.)

 

[Care_bear]

That method will suck up our gravel which then gets stuck and blocks the pipe. We have quite large white gravel like this. Could i be using the wrong type of pipe?

 

[seangee]

The easiest way is to use something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0002AQI7W/?tag=ff0d01-20

Ignore all the adds claiming ther product is an auto cleaner, has on/off taps, or self priming etc etc. It sucks up the gravel but it drops back down again before it gets to the top of the tube (and there is a little strainer in the top just in case)

 

[Care_bear]

Ours is like this but it doesn't have the wider part at the bottom, I wonder if thats the problem.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Yes. That is the problem. You need to see if you can find a replacement part for that, or get a new one. You kind of need it to operate it properly.

(Some people prefer to use it without the base, but IMO it makes it much harder. )

 

[Naughts 92]

If you are getting cloudy water the problem may not be the basic gravel cleaning technique.
You could be overfeeding or not cleaning enough.
Aim to gravel clean with 50%+ water change every week. Food should be completely eaten within a couple of minutes.

 

[seangee]

Aim to gravel clean with 50%+ water change every week. Food should be completely eaten within about 30 seconds.

Fixed that for you

 

[Care_bear]

Thanks Naughts

It only gets dirty (little bits, not really cloudy) when I really mix up the gravel at the bottom trying to get it up. Is that what you mean please?

 

[Naughts 92]

There will be some debris inside the gravel vacuum tube but if the tank water is getting cloudy it may be too much food is settling there.
You may think it's a factor to consider given that vacuuming gravel is just 'syphon it up, move on', and any vacuum should be effective if done regularly enough.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Keep using what you're using - those gravel siphons break constantly - I've had to return several after one use. When it fills up with gravel, fold the tube over sideways, just below the siphon and all the gravel should fall out - or take the thing out of the water and let the gravel drop. You are doing this cleaning exactly right. Once you've cleaned out the deep gravel you can move it up a little higher and you'll still see debris going into the siphon hose. If it's making the water cloudy you have a lot of debris - but don't worry - once you start 50-75% water changes once a week you'll get caught up with the debris. You also may want to consider if you've overfeeding (I know I'm terribly guilty of that but I also have a LOT of nocturnal fish and I rarely see any pieces of food left in the morning - so in my case it's not food causing the cloudiness but fish poop. Fish poop has a distinct smell and generally means you have too many fish in the tank but in your case it doesn't sound like it. It could also be gravel dust - I have some tan gravel I washed a million times and I still get gravel dust every time I clean it.

You're doing good - keep it up

 

[Care_bear]

I showed this to my daughter who recognised the bell shaped part for the siphon and found it. Cleaning is a lot easier with it on - of course! Did a 75% change yesterday. We think she didn't use is first time as one of the fish had fry two days after we got it, and she narrowed the siphon opening because she was trying not to suck them up.

Thank you again for all the replies.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I showed this to my daughter who recognised the bell shaped part for the siphon and found it. Cleaning is a lot easier with it on - of course! Did a 75% change yesterday. We think she didn't use is first time as one of the fish had fry two days after we got it, and she narrowed the siphon opening because she was trying not to suck them up.

Thank you again for all the replies.

Good! I’m glad your daughter found the missing part!