Do's And Don'ts Of Cleaning Tank

[hughessomefish]

can some one tell me A good safe way to clean a 14 gallon tank and the filter

 

[Truck]

can some one tell me A good safe way to clean a 14 gallon tank and the filter

drain 20% of the water and change it with freshly dechlorinated water.
check the filter for blockages
clean any algae if you want to.
give the gravel a vaccum with a syphon if you feel necessary

 

[Duck and Dive]

Adding to the filter part; clean the impeller and remove ang bits of plants etc.

To clean the filter media drain some water from the tank into the bucket, squeeze the filter sponge and give other media a quick rinse. Change the carbon (if you have any) every to weeks.

Never:

Rinse and clean filter media under the tap as the chlorine kills back your filter media.

Do a 100% water change as this is not good for the fish and the water will take a while to be heated by your heater.

Add raw tap water.

Change 100% of your filter media as then you loose all your filter maturity and are back to square one having to re cycle your tank.

And thats about it

 

[hughessomefish]

Adding to the filter part; clean the impeller and remove ang bits of plants etc.

To clean the filter media drain some water from the tank into the bucket, squeeze the filter sponge and give other media a quick rinse. Change the carbon (if you have any) every to weeks.

Never:

Rinse and clean filter media under the tap as the chlorine kills back your filter media.

Do a 100% water change as this is not good for the fish and the water will take a while to be heated by your heater.

Add raw tap water.

Change 100% of your filter media as then you loose all your filter maturity and are back to square one having to re cycle your tank.

And thats about it

what is filter media exsactly, my pet store calls it something else i think?

 

[OldMan47]

Filter media is the stuff in the filter case that does all the water cleaning.

 

[Truck]

no need for carbon unless removing meds

 

[hughessomefish]

so never clean these parts?

 

[OldMan47]

It is hard to tell what is in the picture, it looks like some kind of plastic framework, but it may be some kind of biological media. Manufacturers that make cartridge type filters have started putting some dense plastic parts into the filter to give a surface for bacteria to colonize and this could be such a part by your filter maker. If that is what it is, you only lightly rinse it in tank water, never scrub it.

 

[hughessomefish]

It is hard to tell what is in the picture, it looks like some kind of plastic framework, but it may be some kind of biological media. Manufacturers that make cartridge type filters have started putting some dense plastic parts into the filter to give a surface for bacteria to colonize and this could be such a part by your filter maker. If that is what it is, you only lightly rinse it in tank water, never scrub it.

ok yea the box says its a certin type of plastic that makes it easy for bactera to grow(the good kind)

 

[Denil]

replacer 1/3 of aquarium's water per month aswell as clean the botom..
also....clean the aquarium's "walls" once each 15 days