My Fishtank Cleaning Story Very Up Setting

[withington]

Hi fish fans

well at 3pm today (sunday 20th ) i deciced to epmpty my 4th tank because it had algue floating on the top of the water and was very dirty, so I cleaned it all out getting very stressed on the way because i put the wood in the sink and my big brother who is 20 washing his hands with fairy liqud and it went all over the wood and plants in the sink so we have a little fight punching each other, any way I put all the fish back in to the tank and there was only 6 in there and at 3pm i did have 10 so i lost 4 fish somewhere and i have 5 cuts on my fingures and hand from my slate 2 of them really do hurt but still being able to type the story up. So no its 6pm 3 hours later im pi55ed off cuz i got school tommorow so most of my sunday has gone andi lost 4 fish and my hand hurts so its all cra.p so far,oh by the way they are tropical fish.

Be careful when cleaning your tank out.

from Alex Withington

i dont know if this is allowed but my msn is alexwithington7@hotmail.com because i have some questions add me im on now and all the time posts 6:25pm sunday ill b on till 10pm tonight

 

[IMCL85]

I fell ur pain . I going to visit my grandma on Januaray probably going to be aways for 2 monthes or so and I leave all the fish work to my father and my small bro. I hope they know how to handle them or I be looking at some dead fish from freezer when I come back. You be supprise how many time I have to tell them adding condition and wash every thing before have them touching eithe rone of the tank .

 

[withington]

well give them a ring when your away and remind them.

 

[thapsus]

Sorry to hear. But why did you that big cleaning?

 

[lozzles]

for future reference you really shouldnt do mass cleaning it can start your cycle all over what type of fish were they?

 

[withington]

well the gravle was govered in poo so i had to the filter is to small for the 4 ft tank so i had to

 

[yvez9]

wouldn't a gravel vac allow you to remove the poo?

 

[withington]

i dont have 1 , pluse my tank is full wiht things so would i have to take the things out ?

 

[yvez9]

a gravel vac is an elementary accesory to any fish tank. that is the tool you'll be using to clean the gravel and do water changes.

there should be enough room in the tank for you to get the gravel to most parts of the gravel, otherwise your fish will feel cramped.

how have you been doing routine maintenance?

 

[withington]

well i didnt

 

[WILDER]

Also don't make two threads as it gets confusing.

 

[Synirr]

For future reference, you should never have to do a huge tank cleaning like that.... those of us with lots of tanks would go insane if you did!
You simply need to change the water and vacuum the gravel with a gravel vac on a regular basis; most here recommend changing between 10 and 25% of the water weekly. You don't have to take any of your fish or ornaments out, and it will help prevent algae buildup. It'll keep your fish much healthier, too. It's a lot easier than doing a massive clean, and with a Python you won't even need to carry buckets

 

[Soaup]

Haha yeah, I got my fingers wrapped the other day because i was scraping my tank to get the algae off the glass and i took a nice chunk of my finger from knuckle to knuckle from hitting the hood.

 

[withington]

well i will ask my mates across the road if i can borrow his and do water changes because its a 3 hours job, i will try my best to keep on top of it.

 

[Synirr]

Yeah, see, if you do weekly tank maintenance it won't take NEARLY as long as 3 hours! I can clean all 13 of my tanks in less than an hour using a Python.