Cleaning The Tank

[tucan]

ok.. i know this seem to be a rather stupid question but.... how do you clean the tank? i have the tank for about 6 months now and i was wondering how to clean the tank and how often? do i do a complete change ie. take out everything and clean including gravels and filter, change 100% water, or can i do partial clean where i take out the plants, rocks, and do maybe 50% water change?

At the moment, every 2 weeks i do a 20% water change and all the tests and maybe change a few plants and nothing else. the fishes seem to be happy. i also saw a thread earlier and somone mentioned gravel hoover - how do you do that? and how often do i change the sponges in the filter?

thanks in advance

edit : ok i have decided that i am going to empty the tank completly tomorrow and clean everything in there ( except the sponges).

another stupid question : after the cleaning, do i have to do another cycle b4 i put the fishes back?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

"hoovering" or "vacuuming" the substrate is how you remove fish waste and other debris from the bottom of the tank. There are several different styles of gravel vacuum syphons to choose from, but basically after you start the water flow you move it over the gravel to suck up debris. I like to push mine deep into the substrate to get rid of the smaller particles and prevent anaerobic pockets from forming.

Doing a gravel vac with your water changes is very important because those debris can build up, releasing ammonia as they break down in your tank...which can lead to all sorts of problems!

The sponges in your filter do not need to be changed unless they are falling apart. You Should however gently "swish" them around in removed tank water to clean all the debris off...I do this every week during my second water change. Do not rinse under tap water...the chlorine will kill off the beneficial bacteria.

Most people recommend doing at least a 25% water change per week. I do two 20-30% changes weekly, and clean during the second one. You should only really clean things in your tank if they need to be (i.e. if the filter intake has build up on it, or you want to remove algae on a decoration, plants need to be trimmed). If the plants/decorations look good just leave them alone...they have some of your tanks beneficial bacteria on it so you might as well let it live. ^^

 

[rdd1952]

Most people do 15 to 25 percent water changes every week. It really depends on your stocking level. My tanks are understocked and over filtered so I usually do WCs every other week. Even at that, my nitrates never get as high as 20 ppm. The main purpose of WCs is to lower nitrates and give you an opportunity to do some cleaning.

As for what to clean, I wipe the inside of the glass if there seems to be any algae forming. You can also use one of the algae magnets to do that on a more frequent basis between changes. I also do a good gravel vac each time I do a WC. I also do a little pruning on my plants if the need it and remove any dead or dying leaves.

To vacuum the gravel, simply hold the vacuum end a 1/2" or so about the sand if you hae sand and let it suck up what is on top of the sand. If you have gravel, you have to actually get the end down in the gravel as the waste settles into the crevaces between the gravel. I will also remove the vacuum tube at times and just use the hose alone. You get much better suction that way but be careful not to get too close to the sand or a fish as the hose alone has huge amount of suction and will definitely suck up sand or even a fish.

 

[tucan]

i dont think i'm over stock
my tank is a rio125 and i have
2 golden wonder killi
2 ram
2 krib
1 cat fish - can't remenber which one but the shop told me they won't grow much bigger than 5 inches
i think i need that need to swim around the middle

i do have one of those magnet, which i clean the front every week. one of the ornament has quite a lot of algae. but what about the rocks? they seem to be darker than when it was new, but they don't look like the same algae to the ornatment.
i had a red fern before, but it was covered in something which made it look black, was it algae? i've thrown it away since.

 

[Chubbywubs]

With the rocks just brush the algae off with your finger, it should just float off. With the plastic plants, when they go brown, just take them out and rinse them with water.


You only really ever need to change all the gravel once a year (if that), especailly if you vaccum it once a week. I've changed my gravel about twice since i got my tank.


(Also buy pebble gravel as its easier to maintain) i used to have glass sand, and the poo would sink through it, rather than lie on top for the filter or fish to work there magic. And since i couldnt vaccum it i had no choice but to remove it.

 

[vinylman]

There's no need to ever change the gravel. Some people strip their tank down every couple of years, but if you keep the gravel well vac'ed, there's absolutely no need to do that.

 

[DarkEntity]

I do a "deep clean" every 6 months, basically swirl the gravel around and do a large water change, clean the filter, replace pads etc....its not something you need to do but if you are sensible it doesnt do them any harm and sometimes can be good as it wil dislodge large rubbish that the filter cant get to

 

[tucan]

With the rocks just brush the algae off with your finger, it should just float off. With the plastic plants, when they go brown, just take them out and rinse them with water.

what about real plants? i don't have any plastic ones. and the oxygen plant have really small leaves.
sorry if that sound dumb

 

[Christine1014]

Just vacuum carefully around the plants. Depending on how heavily planted you are, and what kind of substrate you have, you may find it easier to disconnect the vacuum & and the hose/tube and just get a syphon going using the hose & use the end of that to get around the bottom of the plants since it's so much smaller and a little easier to work with. But if you've just got one or two plants, you'll be fine using the vac as directed.

 

[rdd1952]

Just be careful with the hose only as it creates an enormous amount of suction. Don't get it too close to the substrate or a fish as it will suck them up.

 

[Chubbywubs]

With the rocks just brush the algae off with your finger, it should just float off. With the plastic plants, when they go brown, just take them out and rinse them with water.

what about real plants? i don't have any plastic ones. and the oxygen plant have really small leaves.
sorry if that sound dumb

If there real then they shouldnt really have algae growing on the leaves at all, but if they do then just gentley brush it off with your fingers, The algae should easily come off, so you dont need to use force as you may damage your plants.

Algae likes to grow on a stable and constant surfaces such as rocks or tank glass, living plants are constantly moving, growing and dropping off the leaves, hence why it shouldnt really be growing there.


Edit: For the plants with little leaves, just gently brush your finger down the side of the plant/leafs, this should dislodge the alage. Don't vaccum around or near your plants, because your end up sucking them up, or the nutriants in the substrate, or the substrate itself, just brush it off using your finger, the filter should get what ever floats about, or just net up what ever falls to the ground.

 

[tucan]

ok i have decided that i am going to empty the tank completly tomorrow and clean everything in there ( except the sponges).

another stupid question : after the cleaning, do i have to do another cycle b4 i put the fishes back?

 

[vinylman]

Just save a good half of the water that's in the tank now, then top it up with fresh when you've finished.

 

[Lion007]

I like to empty out once a year for a deep clean - its much easier
If you are going to completely empty - can you borrow a second tank? Ive always got a spare for things like this, take the fish out and put them in the second tank - now use your existing filter in that tank (ive been told these are where all your benificial bacteria are kept - so you want to keep them going with the fish! - as said always rinse the pads/spinges in the old water - never under a tap!)
Then once done replace everything and leave it overnight (not forgetting your tap safe product) - i have a secondary filter i use to keep everything flowing
You should then be fine to add your filter and fish to the aquarium!
Thats the way i do it anyway, and i have no problems.

Oh and a tip - dont use washing up liquid on anything! I did this once and had a bubble bath! Its pretty hard to get it all off lol
I now just rinse everything in a bath of hot water - if anything really bad i use babys sterilising tablets

 

[vinylman]

There's no need to empty a tank every year. Weekly/bi-weekly maintenance means you don't have to.