How Often To Clean?

[FishHelper101]

Hi guys I haven't stalked the 10 gallon yet. But since I got the okay from you guys, I'll be stalking soon! I'm so confused however. I've heard SO MANY DIFFERENT OPINIONS ABOUT HOW OFTEN TO CLEAN! I have no clue what's up and down anymore! So my question is...
in a established aquarium, how often to clean???

 

[eaglesaquarium]

A few things to note:  After you stock, even after a full fishless cycle, the tank won't be 'established' yet.  An 'established' tank, IMHO, is a 6+ month old tank.  A 6 month old tank will have a matured biofilm, etc.
 
 
Now, on to a proper maintenance schedule, as I prefer.
 
There are certain things that I do weekly, some monthly, some every 6 months, some when needed.
 
Weekly:

• 20-30% partial water change.  This should always include a good substrate vac.  There is a good amount of detritus and mulm that is going to not be picked up by the filter and will settle on the bottom.  You need to remove as much of this as humanly possible.
• During this time you should also be closely inspecting EACH fish, as much as possible.  Look for ripped fins, odd behavior, etc. (You should be doing this daily as well, but life can get hectic sometimes.)
• Algae scraping.  As much as we would love to have no algae in our tanks, there's always going to be a few little spots from time to time.  Now is the time to deal with it.  Remove all of this while suctioning, so that you don't have this decaying in the tank later.

 
Monthly:

• 50% partial water change.  Extra careful vaccuming of the substrate.  Trying to get every little bit of the stuff out.
• Filter cleaning - really rinsing.  A gentle swishing of the filter media (sponges, floss, ceramics, etc) in a bucket of old tank water will help to ensure that water flow through the filter does not become restricted.
• All the other same stuff as the weekly.

 
Semi-annually:

• 75+% partial water change.  Extra, EXTRA careful vaccumming to try to get ALL the dirt out of the substrate - being careful not to disturb it too much, without sucking it all up.
• Deep cleaning time.  Check your decor and remove and scrub off any algae that might have developed on things like rocks, wood, etc.  Gently scrubbing with a dedicated toothbrush is my preferred method.  I only do this if I noticed a build up of algae.  Since getting my BN pleco, that hasn't been a concern. No algae builds up on these items for me now.
  
• Deeper clean of the filter - wipe out the pipes, impeller, etc.
• All of the same things as the monthly and weekly maintenance.

 
The biggest concern for folks with an "established" tank is complacency.  Things seem to be going well, so you start to slack on the maintenance, and the water changes.  Nitrate builds up, things get gunked up in the filter slowing flow, etc.  Old Tank syndrome is real, which is why you want to be so careful to properly maintain your tank as carefully and every 6 months do a deep cleaning to keep your tank "fresh".  You can also rescape the tank a bit during this 6 month change - and that gives your fish a new experience in the same old place.  With certain species, you'll want to do that just before you add new fish to the tank to break up old territories, etc.

 

[Chad]

+1...we may need to pin that answer in the beginner forum...

 

[raptorrex]

Hi guys I haven't stalked the 10 gallon yet. But since I got the okay from you guys, I'll be stalking soon! I'm so confused however. I've heard SO MANY DIFFERENT OPINIONS ABOUT HOW OFTEN TO CLEAN! I have no clue what's up and down anymore! So my question is...
in a established aquarium, how often to clean???

how often you clean will be diictated by your tank, and type of filtration.
as such there are no fixed rules.
 
cleaning your filter, if it is not required, will simply wash away valuable bacteria, especially on a small tank.
 
eagals rules are a very good staring point, but your cleaning will, or should, evolve as you get more experienced.
 
when i first had my tank, it was fitted with (the excuse for a filter) from JUWEL. this needed cleaning once every two months. but the filter did not become effective again, after the clean, for over a month. (this is something Juwel warn of in the filters instructions)
 
now the same tank has 2x Eheim 2224's and they each get cleaned once a year! (with roughly the same level of stocking)

 

[Chad]

eagals rules are a very good staring point, but your cleaning will, or should, evolve as you get more experienced.

Well said. Experience and tank specs will determine how a cleaning schedule gets modified. It's good to have a starting point but not to get too hung up on it.

 

[Mikey1]

there can not be any "set rules" when it comes to tank maintanance/cleaning....too many different factors/variables come into play....every tank is different, thats why your hearing so many different opinions.....
 
your tank is brand new, so you should be going very light on the cleaning at first, until the tank gets fully established, which i would say 6-8 months, and gradually increase the cleaning as the tank matures and gets established....
 
add fish slowly, i would say 2-3 fish every two weeks maximum....
 
until your tank is fully stocked you shouldnt need to be doing much of anything in the way of cleaning except weekly or even bi-weekly water changes of about 25%, rinse your filter media once a month, vacuum your substrate every 4-6 weeks
 
cleaning a new tank/filter too often can do more harm than good....even moreso with a brand new setup like yours....
 
make sure you do not overfeed!
 
for the average 10 gallon tank that is fully established, fully/reasonably stocked, and fed properly, i would recommend the following....
 
- 25% water change once a week
- rinse filter media/filter cleaning every 2 weeks
- substrate cleaning/vacuuming every 3-4 weeks
- glass cleaning as nessessary / every 2 weeks should do it

 

[sadguppy]

In my larger, 50 gal +, heavily planted tanks, I now do a 30 - 40% change every other week. In my smaller, under 10 gal, tanks it is weekly.

Filters are cleaned when the flow starts to drop, internal need more attention than external. I scrub the glass when cleaning or whenever i see algae I just have to remove.

This is a manageable routine for me and one that keeps my tank stable and both tank and fish looking good.