Need Help.!
- Thread starter paul_219
- Start date
chesterscot
Fish Herder
do you use a gravel vac or anything?
scot
scot
If you get (or make) a decent gravel cleaner you will be able to clean the gravel without removing it from the tank.
Get a 1.25, 1.5, or 2litre plastic cool drink bottle (Coca Cola or something similar). Cut the bottom off it. Get a hose that fits on the top of the bottle. Remove the cap and attach the hose. Run the hose out the door or into a bucket, (depending on how long the hose is) and put the bottle into the tank. Start the water syphoning out the hose and while it is you push the Coke bottle into the gravel and lift it up. The gravel will circulate and drop down but the gunk will be removed with some of the water.
With a bit of practice you will be able to clean the gravel pretty thoroughly. Once you have drained out about 1/3 of the tank water, stop gravel cleaning and refill the tank with some clean dechlorinated water that has a similar temperature & PH to the tank water.
Get a 1.25, 1.5, or 2litre plastic cool drink bottle (Coca Cola or something similar). Cut the bottom off it. Get a hose that fits on the top of the bottle. Remove the cap and attach the hose. Run the hose out the door or into a bucket, (depending on how long the hose is) and put the bottle into the tank. Start the water syphoning out the hose and while it is you push the Coke bottle into the gravel and lift it up. The gravel will circulate and drop down but the gunk will be removed with some of the water.
With a bit of practice you will be able to clean the gravel pretty thoroughly. Once you have drained out about 1/3 of the tank water, stop gravel cleaning and refill the tank with some clean dechlorinated water that has a similar temperature & PH to the tank water.
Gravel cleaning is meant to be easy. Perhaps your gravel cleaner is too big for your tank.
It is much easier to gravel clean a tank than to take the gravel out and wash it manually. Also it is less stressful to the fish if you leave the gravel in the tank and simply do a regular gravel clean.
If you do a gravel clean each day for a week or so, you should be able to get rid of any algae that is growing on it.
The only reason the gravel should be hard to clean is if the tank is full of plants. In which case you only gravel clean the areas that don't have plants growing in them.
It is much easier to gravel clean a tank than to take the gravel out and wash it manually. Also it is less stressful to the fish if you leave the gravel in the tank and simply do a regular gravel clean.
If you do a gravel clean each day for a week or so, you should be able to get rid of any algae that is growing on it.
The only reason the gravel should be hard to clean is if the tank is full of plants. In which case you only gravel clean the areas that don't have plants growing in them.
Syphoniera
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Hi, don't know if you know this already, and I have posted this before, but it bears repeating as it may help stave off potential disaster, if not for you, possibly for another reader with similar problems:
http
/www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/d...788&search=
... Probably the biggest repository of helpful bacteria in your aquarium occurs on the surface of each piece of gravel. Each grain, though appearing smooth to the eye, is rough at a microscopic level, and thus provides a huge surface area for the growth of helpful bacteria. So, it follows that if you sterilize your gravel, you will destroy most of the biofiltration in your tank. Not knowing this, hobbyists sometimes remove the gravel for cleaning and have been known to boil it, scald it or (worst of all) use bleach or soap to sterilize the gravel. This is a huge mistake! It kills off the nitrifying bacteria and will allow ammonia levels to increase rapidly in the water. Gravel should never be cleaned with anything but plain, aquarium-temperature water. ...
It's better, if avoidable, not to remove gravel for cleaning.
If you do have cyanobacteria, (blue-green algae) in slimy sheets throughout your substrate, however, and do not wish to use an antibiotic like Maracyn to kill it off, you may have to, but at least you'll know that doing this may cause spikes you'll be on the watch for, fully prepared to do as many additional water changes as necessary to protect your fish while the nitrifying bacteria re-establishes throughout your tank.
http
/www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/d...788&search=... Probably the biggest repository of helpful bacteria in your aquarium occurs on the surface of each piece of gravel. Each grain, though appearing smooth to the eye, is rough at a microscopic level, and thus provides a huge surface area for the growth of helpful bacteria. So, it follows that if you sterilize your gravel, you will destroy most of the biofiltration in your tank. Not knowing this, hobbyists sometimes remove the gravel for cleaning and have been known to boil it, scald it or (worst of all) use bleach or soap to sterilize the gravel. This is a huge mistake! It kills off the nitrifying bacteria and will allow ammonia levels to increase rapidly in the water. Gravel should never be cleaned with anything but plain, aquarium-temperature water. ...
It's better, if avoidable, not to remove gravel for cleaning.
If you do have cyanobacteria, (blue-green algae) in slimy sheets throughout your substrate, however, and do not wish to use an antibiotic like Maracyn to kill it off, you may have to, but at least you'll know that doing this may cause spikes you'll be on the watch for, fully prepared to do as many additional water changes as necessary to protect your fish while the nitrifying bacteria re-establishes throughout your tank.
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