Keeping My Tank Clean

[Fisses]

i look at pictures on here of other peoples tanks, and they look so clean and fresh, then i look at mine and it just looks horrible and dirty!!

am i doing something wrong? or could it be because i have sand as im seriously thinking about swapping back to round gravel!!

 

[KingOfTheSea]

Clean the glass, lots of water changes and a white light rather than a yellow one. Clean the sand, use carbon filter inserts.

If you have done all of these, then its just in your head.

 

[stuhyde]

Bigger filter?

Granted mine is overfiltering at the moment, but the water is cleaner than tap water ...

 

[snowflake311]

Make sure you clean your sand well. I suck all poo up that I see it tends to gather in places. Once I get that I will move the end of my syphon in a circle fast to fert the poop up off the sand and out of nooks. Then I lightly stir up the sand and suck up more gunk.

The more you clean the sand the better it looks. 2 times a week helps keep it looking good.

 

[Fisses]

well, i do water changes maybe once a week which is a 50% change, i clean the sand once a week and also when i do the water change. I have an algae magnet for the glass. but as for filter, im actually thinking of swapping my u2 for a u3, but not sure of the benefits...

i did a major clean this weekend gone, i even pressure washed my bog wood and plastic ornaments so theyre all now sparkly clean, but cant help but think how long it'll be till theyre covered in algae and stuff again.... one thing i have noticed, is that to use Hikari micro pellets rather than flake food which works a treat!

 

[snowflake311]

Algea and fish poop is just a way of life there is no way to rid it fully of your tank. Just keep up on the maintance and you should be fine.

 

[Fisses]

its just a nitemare, as you look at some peoples tanks, and theyre absolutely spotless and everything looks so perfect, and then i look at mine, and it just looks so tatty

 

[Truck]

Algea and fish poop is just a way of life there is no way to rid it fully of your tank. Just keep up on the maintance and you should be fine.

thats a bit of a sweeping statement if im honest...its easy to get rid of algae but it takes time.

if you have brown algae(diatoms) and its taking over your tank...just keep cleaning it and eventually it will go away...increasing circulation will help.

if your struggling with dead spots where detritus gathers...you could add a circulation pump which will improve flow...it will mean the ammonia produced by your fish is sent to the filter faster...so algae cant use the ammonia as a food source.

 

[Fisses]

Algea and fish poop is just a way of life there is no way to rid it fully of your tank. Just keep up on the maintance and you should be fine.

thats a bit of a sweeping statement if im honest...its easy to get rid of algae but it takes time.

if you have brown algae(diatoms) and its taking over your tank...just keep cleaning it and eventually it will go away...increasing circulation will help.

if your struggling with dead spots where detritus gathers...you could add a circulation pump which will improve flow...it will mean the ammonia produced by your fish is sent to the filter faster...so algae cant use the ammonia as a food source.

what do you mean by a circulation pump???

 

[OldMan47]

Lets get realistic. If I have algae on the glass and want a fish picture, the first thing that I do is clean the glass. Otherwise all that people notice about the picture is the algae on the glass. We all have some algae in at least some of our tanks and they don't all look like I just finished a water change because I don't do a water change on all tanks at once. Like most people, I will put my best foot forward in my pictures and will take pictures that show only what I want to show. If I want a disease diagnosis, I will crop the picture so that all you will see is the sick fish. Why show the 10 other healthy fish in the tank? Pictures are just that, they are pictures, they are not reality.

I was standing at least 10 feet away from this young seal when I snapped his picture but it looks closer because I used my telephoto lens and then cropped the picture to bring out what I thought was an interesting perspective on the animal. The original showed at least 50 to 100 feet of beach in the background with the rock cliffs off to my right and random bits of seaweed laying around on the beach. That is not what I wanted the picture to be all about though so I cropped it to bring out the beauty of the seal pup.

 

[chipster55]

Algea and fish poop is just a way of life there is no way to rid it fully of your tank. Just keep up on the maintance and you should be fine.

thats a bit of a sweeping statement if im honest...its easy to get rid of algae but it takes time.

if you have brown algae(diatoms) and its taking over your tank...just keep cleaning it and eventually it will go away...increasing circulation will help.

if your struggling with dead spots where detritus gathers...you could add a circulation pump which will improve flow...it will mean the ammonia produced by your fish is sent to the filter faster...so algae cant use the ammonia as a food source.

Sure would like to know your secret of totally getting rid of algae..I have green spot which I need to scrape at least once a month...My water conditions are always very good...I have done everything that I could research but have found no way to completely get rid of it..I even bought a R/O system, but no success. I know algae is good for aquarium but it's a pain to keep it clean..

 

[Truck]

Algea and fish poop is just a way of life there is no way to rid it fully of your tank. Just keep up on the maintance and you should be fine.

thats a bit of a sweeping statement if im honest...its easy to get rid of algae but it takes time.

if you have brown algae(diatoms) and its taking over your tank...just keep cleaning it and eventually it will go away...increasing circulation will help.

if your struggling with dead spots where detritus gathers...you could add a circulation pump which will improve flow...it will mean the ammonia produced by your fish is sent to the filter faster...so algae cant use the ammonia as a food source.

Sure would like to know your secret of totally getting rid of algae..I have green spot which I need to scrape at least once a month...My water conditions are always very good...I have done everything that I could research but have found no way to completely get rid of it..I even bought a R/O system, but no success. I know algae is good for aquarium but it's a pain to keep it clean..

high plant biomass, along with CO2 and good circulation will keep algae away...its inevitable that you will get a small amount...but its small enough to be not noticed.


do some research on koralia pumps

 

[Gilli]

You need to try to keep your nitrates as low as possible as the algea feed and multiply on this. Plenty of live plants will help as they use it up. you might like to consider moss balls which are cheap on Ebay , not only do these use up nitrates but they are also good for any fry as they contain insuforia. Dont overfeed and dont have your lights on too much as this all increases the growth. Also if your tank is somewhere where it gets sunlight will not help.

As long as you stick to the above rules, clean your tank out once a week with at least a 30% water change, & clean the glass every few days you shouldnt have any problems.

 

[Truck]

high nitrates do not cause algae...they are a contributor to its growth

 

[glolite]

My Rekord 60l never got algae on the glass but the plant growth was poor. Since adding a CO2 system I'm having to clean the glass of soft green algae twice a week. The plants look 100% better but it makes more work for me.