Messy Tank

[Rorie]

Hi,

I am just back from holiday, so my tank got a good clean out before i left. A week on, and their feeding was reduced as my friend was to do it when she was here (about 3 out of the 8 days).

The gravel in the tank looks messy! The thing is, i have just rearranged the whole tank with rocks stacked up etc to create new hiding places for my shark. I can therefore only clean sections with ease, and to get to the rest, i'd need to unstack all the rocks etc - a lot of hassle!

I was wondering if there was a way i could get around this? I have two synclits that eat algae, and 2 corrys that eat the mess, along with my shark. I have a 90L tank. Can i get more bottom feeders to reduce the frequency of cleaning the tricky bits? Obviously i will still do my water changes though!

I have been advised that i can clean 1/4 every 2-3 weeks, but this has just been 2 weeks and its ALL really messy!

Help!

 

[Assaye]

Hi,

I am just back from holiday, so my tank got a good clean out before i left. A week on, and their feeding was reduced as my friend was to do it when she was here (about 3 out of the 8 days).

The gravel in the tank looks messy! The thing is, i have just rearranged the whole tank with rocks stacked up etc to create new hiding places for my shark. I can therefore only clean sections with ease, and to get to the rest, i'd need to unstack all the rocks etc - a lot of hassle!

I was wondering if there was a way i could get around this? I have two synclits that eat algae, and 2 corrys that eat the mess, along with my shark. I have a 90L tank. Can i get more bottom feeders to reduce the frequency of cleaning the tricky bits? Obviously i will still do my water changes though!

I have been advised that i can clean 1/4 every 2-3 weeks, but this has just been 2 weeks and its ALL really messy!

Help!

Clean the gravel when it gets messy and at least once every fortnight. Corys, otocinclus and sharks will eat left over food but they will not clean the gravel for you by eating fish poop. Do you have a gravel cleaner? Use this where you can but every few weeks you'll need to get into the tricky bits and that may mean unstacking the rocks.

As for water changes, I'd advise 1/5-1/4 every week until you're much more experienced and can use your knowledge to regulate your water changes onto a schedule that suits you and the fish.

 

[snowflake311]

Thats what happend when you go on vacation. I always do a major WC the day before I go on vacation then I come home and my tank have algea on the glass and just needs attention. Just go back to doing what you did before maybe a few extra WC and less food. Your friend might have fed them a little extra when you were gone.

make it so that around the rocks there is more water flow with will keep junk from collecting good water flow will help that problem.

 

[Rorie]

Thanks for your replies.

I just bit the bullet and took out all the rocks and cleaned it Was a pain in the backside to re-stack, but it worked

 

[PDSimon]

I have a big syringe that I use to spray the back of my tank so all the debris comes to the front where I can syphon it. Not sure if this is the best idea but it sure makes it easier.