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Jrt123

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My 36 gallon tank has been running about a month it’s cycledand has 6 danios, 6 barbs and three cory’s. When should I start cleaning and removing water then replacing it?
 
My 36 gallon tank has been running about a month it’s cycledand has 6 danios, 6 barbs and three cory’s. When should I start cleaning and removing water then replacing it?
adviseable to do a 50% water change every week, make sure you clean the substrate at the bottom and lift up and clean under any ornaments you might have, there are loads of videos on how to clean that with a siphon on youtube, when cleaning filter medium, its good to clean it in the withdrawn water prior to throwing it away! as it holds the BB (Beneficial Bacteria) and you dont wash it away.

Always keep good tabs on your water quality with test kits as well, if anything is out of the norm with your water parameters, water changes are adviseable aswell! Make sure you add de-chlorinator to tap water prior to adding it to the tank.

Hope this helps, I felt like the first one I did was daunting but with proper prep and research you will smash it
 
Ty for the info but what I’m really asking is when should I start to clean? Is that where the test kit comes in?
 
Ty for the info but what I’m really asking is when should I start to clean? Is that where the test kit comes in?
If its been a month and cycled before hand I would do one now, water changes wont hurt, if in doubt do a water change is a popular motto round here :)
 
What exactly do you mean by "clean"? All you should be doing is a weekly partial water change of 50% or more of the tank volume, and do a vacuum of the substrate during that process. Rinse the filter media at each water change (it can go longer, but it won't hurt and you will get into a good habit). The inside glass surfaces, especially the front glass, should be cleaned with a sponge-type scraper whether or not you see anything; algae can begin to grow in the biofilm that covers all surfaces under water, and doing this each week ensures it will never become a problem (on the glass). Then add the fresh water, dechlorinated, ensuring it is close to the same temperature (a tad cooler is better than warmer).

I personally would not lift up chunks of rock or wood to clean under them; these areas are part of a healthy biological system, provided the fish load/tank volume/water changes/feeding are all balanced.
 
Also, the test kit are strips that test the quality of the water i.e -
  • Ph
  • Nitrates
  • Nitrites
  • Chlorine
  • General Hardness
  • Carbonates
It is important to understand your water qualities so your fish don't become stressed affecting their immuno-response
 
adviseable to do a 50% water change every week
Ummm, never in my life of 50 years of fishkeeping (except once for a salt water aquarium crash with bad liverock) have I ever done a 50% change or more in a week. 20% weekly is recommended, 30% if you missed a week. I might do a 20%+20% in a breeding tank during a week's time, but let's not get crazy. Over-population will certainly increase this amount, a nicely planted and maintained tank with a decent 'clean-up' crew can slightly decrease this amount. I say the above with the assumption that you are always in control of your water parameters and they don't drift due to insufficient buffers, etc.
 
I regularly do 50%+ WC on my tanks. Occasionally I will do 75%+ which always gets my fish breeding. I feel that keeping fish in stagnant water (which is what the water is after sitting in the tank for a week IMO) does not promote a healthy tank for the fish or the plants. Everyone does what they feel is best based on their circumstances, that is what is great about the hobby-many of the so called rules are really guides that should be followed with research and logic based on your fish/tank/components/water type...and many other things that influence your tank.
 
Look up the definition of 'stagnant'. Filtered aquarium water is certainly not stagnant, and then add in the biological, mechanical, chemical and environmental (plants, driftwood, etc.). Assuming a lot of people live in air-conditioned homes and seldom, if ever, open windows to let in a renewment of air in and it is not too heathly to do that, but they still live happily. You seem to be thinking old-school with keeping fish in a stagnant jar with little to no filtration. Modern times (actually been around for 30-40 years) has changed the way modern fishkeepers maintain an aquarium, except all of the old-school advice still keeps being unnecessarily preached. If it makes one feel good and you have all of that time on your hands, then go ahead - I personally think excessive water changes create more stress on the population than is needed. And just for the record, pizza is a very balanced meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner - but it does contain excess saturated fats which will clog your arteries and lead to potential heart disease - but, we're all happy when we eat it! To each their own!
 
stagnant- ‘forming a pool of standing water’, from the verb stagnare, from stagnum ‘pool’.
As you explain sitting in a house with air conditioning on for months is not healthy for you, air conditioner may be filtering the air but it's not adding fresh air to the home. Same goes for a fish tank where you do not add fresh water by doing regular water changes. The water in the tank becomes stagnant-not moving, not moving as in you are not refreshing it with new water so the nutrients in the water are being used up. This is why it rains in nature water should be changed in the fish tank that's not old school that's just common sense. But again like you said we can agree to disagree that's why this hobby is great because not everyone sees everything the same way.
 
As you explain sitting in a house with air conditioning on for months is not healthy for you, air conditioner may be filtering the air but it's not adding fresh air to the home. Same goes for a fish tank where you do not add fresh water by doing regular water changes. The water in the tank becomes stagnant-not moving, not moving as in you are not refreshing it with new water so the nutrients in the water are being used up. This is why it rains in nature water should be changed in the fish tank that's not old school that's just common sense. But again like you said we can agree to disagree that's why this hobby is great because not everyone sees everything the same way.
And sometimes your filtered air is much better than the outside, because it is 'conditioned'. Perfect example is a post that I just commented on where the person's tap water introduces more nitrates than the standing and conditioned tank water. More to it than that - but sometimes you make it worse by trying to make it better. Some times, you got to trust your parameters and leave it go. I currently only have 4 tanks, had many more in the distant past - but if I had to do extreme water changes on every tank, I would be a slave to my tanks and the fish wouldn't be any more happier than they are currently now - "change whatever amount you wish, God bless the fish". This is supposed to be a relaxing hobby and that is why it has evovled to a more hands-off approach with the advances of filtration (mechanical, biological, environmental and chemical). Time to sit back and enjoy the hobby instead of break your back. Just to note - I've never tried to keep fish that require much more in water conditioning than my tap water is already good for. African Cichlids have always been a no-go for me as it would require way too much pre-treatment of my current water supply. Again, too much work, not enough time to enjoy the hobby.
 
And sometimes your filtered air is much better than the outside, because it is 'conditioned'. Perfect example is a post that I just commented on where the person's tap water introduces more nitrates than the standing and conditioned tank water. More to it than that - but sometimes you make it worse by trying to make it better. Some times, you got to trust your parameters and leave it go. I currently only have 4 tanks, had many more in the distant past - but if I had to do extreme water changes on every tank, I would be a slave to my tanks and the fish wouldn't be any more happier than they are currently now - "change whatever amount you wish, God bless the fish". This is supposed to be a relaxing hobby and that is why it has evovled to a more hands-off approach with the advances of filtration (mechanical, biological, environmental and chemical). Time to sit back and enjoy the hobby instead of break your back. Just to note - I've never tried to keep fish that require much more in water conditioning than my tap water is already good for. African Cichlids have always been a no-go for me as it would require way too much pre-treatment of my current water supply. Again, too much work, not enough time to enjoy the hobby.
Changing 50% is not back breaking nor time consuming. You just drain it outside with a hose then fill it from a tap (temperature matched) through a hose, the dechlorinator is added to the tank and mixes in the flow.
 
What exactly do you mean by "clean"? All you should be doing is a weekly partial water change of 50% or more of the tank volume, and do a vacuum of the substrate during that process. Rinse the filter media at each water change (it can go longer, but it won't hurt and you will get into a good habit). The inside glass surfaces, especially the front glass, should be cleaned with a sponge-type scraper whether or not you see anything; algae can begin to grow in the biofilm that covers all surfaces under water, and doing this each week ensures it will never become a problem (on the glass). Then add the fresh water, dechlorinated, ensuring it is close to the same temperature (a tad cooler is better than warmer).

I personally would not lift up chunks of rock or wood to clean under them; these areas are part of a healthy biological system, provided the fish load/tank volume/water changes/feeding are all balanced.
Ty for the response that is exactly what I meant. I was not sure if I should wait longer or do the water changes etc now.
 
My 36 gallon tank has been running about a month

If you haven't done a water change during that month you need to do one as soon as possible, then every week.


what I’m really asking is when should I start to clean? Is that where the test kit comes in?
When doing a fish-in cycle, test kits are important as a water change should be done whenever ammonia or nitrite read above zero. Once a tank is cycled, water changes should be done weekly even if ammonia and nitrite are zero, and nitrate is low. There are more things build up in the water besides those three, things we can't test for.
It's also a good idea to check ammonia and nitrite whenever more fish are added to a tank mainly for peace of mind, though if ammonia and/or nitrite read above zero, a water change needs to be done.
 
Ummm, never in my life of 50 years of fishkeeping (except once for a salt water aquarium crash with bad liverock) have I ever done a 50% change or more in a week. 20% weekly is recommended, 30% if you missed a week. I might do a 20%+20% in a breeding tank during a week's time, but let's not get crazy. Over-population will certainly increase this amount, a nicely planted and maintained tank with a decent 'clean-up' crew can slightly decrease this amount. I say the above with the assumption that you are always in control of your water parameters and they don't drift due to insufficient buffers, etc.

Please read the article "stickied" at the head of the Tropical Discussion forum, here is the direct lin. It explains why the more water changed, the better for the fish.

 

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