Run Me Through Cleaning The Tank

[Sandzee23]

okay, im am off on holiday tomorrow so i cleaned my filter and water change pH test ect

can someone run me through what you would do when you clean your tank, right from the bigginning including water change, adding tap safe, filter... just everything!

 

[nessar]

for a proper big clean:


1. turn everything off
2. take out ornaments
3. gravel vac till you have 1 bucket of water
4. wash out filter media in this bucket of water, if using carbon more than 4 weeks old, replace or disgard
5. check filter impellers are not jammed or clogged up
6. take apart filter, give it all a swish in the water
7. whilst you are doing all this do not let filter media dry out, keep it in the bucket
8. chuck away that water
9. carry on removing water and gravel vaccuuming till you have taken out 2/3 of the water
10. do not gravel vacc more than half the gravel
11. fill up bucket with clean water, mix both hot and cold so you have the same temp as your tank water
12. add water decholrinator and any plant food, meds or salt you are using to the bucket
13. add the water slowly to avoid alarming fish
14. repeat till tank is full
15. add decorations back in
16. turn everything back on
17. wait 10 mins, then give fish a small treat

ooops i forgot - clean tank sides. that should be number 3, so that then the gunk is removed during the water change

 

[nessar]

Also if you are going to check water stats, do so BEFORE you do anything above. Theres no point testing the water if you just put loads of fresh tap water in, youll just be testing the tap water.

 

[the biffster]

for a proper big clean:


1. turn everything off
2. take out ornaments
3. gravel vac till you have 1 bucket of water
4. wash out filter media in this bucket of water, if using carbon more than 4 weeks old, replace or disgard
5. check filter impellers are not jammed or clogged up
6. take apart filter, give it all a swish in the water
7. whilst you are doing all this do not let filter media dry out, keep it in the bucket
8. chuck away that water
9. carry on removing water and gravel vaccuuming till you have taken out 2/3 of the water
10. do not gravel vacc more than half the gravel
11. fill up bucket with clean water, mix both hot and cold so you have the same temp as your tank water
12. add water decholrinator and any plant food, meds or salt you are using to the bucket
13. add the water slowly to avoid alarming fish
14. repeat till tank is full
15. add decorations back in
16. turn everything back on
17. wait 10 mins, then give fish a small treat

ooops i forgot - clean tank sides. that should be number 3, so that then the gunk is removed during the water change

i know this might sound a bit of a daft question why do you only
vacuum half of the graval in seventeen yrs of fish keeping i have
never heard this been mentioned before and i was just wondering why

 

[IAmATeaf]

i know this might sound a bit of a daft question why do you only
vacuum half of the graval in seventeen yrs of fish keeping i have
never heard this been mentioned before and i was just wondering why [/color]

It's to do with not removing all the beneficial bacteria that may be present in the gravel as you've done a 2/3 water change.

Also the green text hurts my eyes

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yeah, because the gravel is where they all are...

 

[Liverbird36]

I'm confused now as my LFS told me that it's the filter that hold the majority of the beneficial bacteria, and that the gravel needs to be thoroughly vacumed. That doing so will not upset the level of beneficial bacteria in the tank. Are they wrong in saying that ???

 

[JoshuaA]

It's to do with not removing all the beneficial bacteria that may be present in the gravel as you've done a 2/3 water change.

I think you'll find the vast majority of it is in the filter media and using a gravel vac won't remove the bacteria as they're adhered to the surface quite strongly. On a major tank clean I would say that only gravel vacuum'in half would be counter productive towards the cause.

if that was the case I imagine a lot of people would be avoiding gravel vacs all together.

Yeah, because the gravel is where they all are...

I don't know whether this is sarcastic? I feel that it is...

I'm confused now as my LFS told me that it's the filter that hold the majority of the beneficial bacteria, and that the gravel needs to be thoroughly vacumed. That doing so will not upset the level of beneficial bacteria in the tank. Are they wrong in saying that ???

I would say they are correct in their advice. Also if it was the gravel that housed most the bacteria you would expect to see more of a pumice gravel substrate the best to buy due to the massively increase surface area for bacteria to cling onto. However don't get me wrong, bacteria will be present on your gravel but not much in comparison to the concentration of bacteria in your filter. I believe the idea of only vacuum'ing half your gravel is purely because by the time you have thoroughly vacuum'd half of your gravel the water level has decreased significantly that attempting to vacuum the other half isn't viable. ( Small tanks)

Furthermore if you are removing "grime" from the glass I would do that first before removing any water and give it time to settle down on the gravel, that way you can pick up the dirt that has come off with the gravel filter rather than trying to chase it around the tank with your vacuum hose.

 

[Liverbird36]

No no no !!! I was not being sarcastic !! you have completely misunderstood me. I am a newbie to fish keeping and after reading the comment about the gravel vacuming was totally confused. I have always believed, from advice given and from books I have read that the filter is what holds the vast majority of the beneficial bacteria but quite often as a nwebie I get things wrong.I left that comment as I needed clarification from someone in the know that methods I intend to use are correct. As a newbie I am in no position whatsoever to be sarcastic and take offence at the fact that you have misjudged me into being so.

 

[SlyPolak]

No no no !!! I was not being sarcastic !! you have completely misunderstood me. I am a newbie to fish keeping and after reading the comment about the gravel vacuming was totally confused. I have always believed, from advice given and from books I have read that the filter is what holds the vast majority of the beneficial bacteria but quite often as a nwebie I get things wrong.I left that comment as I needed clarification from someone in the know that methods I intend to use are correct. As a newbie I am in no position whatsoever to be sarcastic and take offence at the fact that you have misjudged me into being so.

LMFAO !!! 99% of the bacteria is in the filter, the rest on gravel/rocks/ornaments etc... MAYBE .00001% in the water. WHY would you be offended?? He didnt "YELL" at you or anything!! I thought you were joking too..... YOU MADE MY DAY BY SAYING YOU WERE OFFENDED !! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[Liverbird36]

No no no !!! I was not being sarcastic !! you have completely misunderstood me. I am a newbie to fish keeping and after reading the comment about the gravel vacuming was totally confused. I have always believed, from advice given and from books I have read that the filter is what holds the vast majority of the beneficial bacteria but quite often as a nwebie I get things wrong.I left that comment as I needed clarification from someone in the know that methods I intend to use are correct. As a newbie I am in no position whatsoever to be sarcastic and take offence at the fact that you have misjudged me into being so.

LMFAO !!! 99% of the bacteria is in the filter, the rest on gravel/rocks/ornaments etc... MAYBE .00001% in the water. WHY would you be offended?? He didnt "YELL" at you or anything!! I thought you were joking too..... YOU MADE MY DAY BY SAYING YOU WERE OFFENDED !! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Grow up

 

[JoshuaA]

As a newbie I am in no position whatsoever to be sarcastic and take offence at the fact that you have misjudged me into being so.

Sorry that you have misunderstood what I said, I was actually referring to the quote I took from OohFeeshy's post. In which he appeared to sarcastically state

Yeah, because the gravel is where they all are...

( I believe it was sarcastically)

The advice you received was correct in my eyes from the LFS. However I wouldn't take advice from one source, I believe you will ALWAYS Find LFS are usually all for selling you the fish and saying you'll be ready for fish ASAP with little collective experience as you are usually only being told from the opinion of one person. You will see most experienced people on this forum will be on the opposite side of the scale and say waiting the length of time to ensure a safe colony of bacteria is better. ( I agree) The benefit of the forum is the vast amounts of personal experiences in which you will be able evaluate your situation and make the decision in which you think is best for both you and the fishes welfare.

If you are taking advice from books, all I can really say is just check the date the book was issued to ensure it is up to date knowledge. Just be some what concerned about some of the advice you receive from the LFS and try and validate it with members on this forum as some LFS strongly believe and encourage the belief a cycle only takes one week. (I point my finger at a large pet store brand in the UK).

Edit:

LMFAO !!! 99% of the bacteria is in the filter, the rest on gravel/rocks/ornaments etc... MAYBE .00001% in the water. WHY would you be offended?? He didnt "YELL" at you or anything!! I thought you were joking too..... YOU MADE MY DAY BY SAYING YOU WERE OFFENDED !! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Grow up

Lolwat?

Wat happund here guiz?

 

[Liverbird36]

I am sorry for the misunderstanding Josh. You are one of the people who regularly leave really good advice and feedback on this forum I apologise for the mix up. I don't tend to ask the advice of the LFS anymore as it's the same one you are pointing your finger at that I have had a huge amount of problems with and conflicting advice from. I get the vast majority of my info from the internet but there is a lot of different advice whichever road you go down. It did confuse me when he said about the bacteria being in the gravel but I take the liberty of questioning everything now so I can ensure I am on the right track. Once again i'm really sorry for the mix up.

 

[JoshuaA]

I am sorry for the misunderstanding Josh. You are one of the people who regularly leave really good advice and feedback on this forum I apologise for the mix up. I don't tend to ask the advice of the LFS anymore as it's the same one you are pointing your finger at that I have had a huge amount of problems with and conflicting advice from. I get the vast majority of my info from the internet but there is a lot of different advice whichever road you go down. It did confuse me when he said about the bacteria being in the gravel but I take the liberty of questioning everything now so I can ensure I am on the right track. Once again i'm really sorry for the mix up.

I believe we are both talking about P@H, don't worry about the mix up it happens from time to time. Like I said you will always find different advice from different people at the end of the day its up to you to evaluate the situation you are in and using the information you have acquired make the decision on what you feel is best for yourself and for the welfare of the fish in your tank.

Edit:

For an instance we had... we were told to stock our tank every week and we were told only to do one water change a week and any more will stress the fish out too much! We took a water sample down and our Ammonia was at 1ppm!! He then advised us NOT doing a water change for another 3 days as we had just done a 50% change. He said the water change will cause more stress and the stress will cause more damage than the exposure to Ammonia.

At that point I put 2 and 2 together and from just the thought in my mind that having something sitting in a strong and corrosive base would not be good for myself if I were to live in it never mind fish that have to swim and breath in it. We walked out and ignored everything they said to me previously and came on this site for advice. There are a few people on this forum I will follow to the letter their advice and will also question them so I know the scientific reasons behind the choices they make and the advice they give. It's quite interesting when you go down to the real science involved.

 

[Liverbird36]

Thanks Josh. and yes I did mean P@H; it's the only local store I have so have to ensure that when I go in there to buy anything, that i'm fully researched up. Al the fish in my local one look pretty sick too so not quite sure where to buy from. Have ample time as tank has a long way to go until it's cycled. Oh and thanks for your understanding.

They sold me umpteen products that they said the tank needed. I was tod to add ph buffers as my water was to hard, Filter start establish the filter a weekly water cleaner all this to go in at once. By the end of the first week the tank looked and smelt like toxic soup. Was told not to worry, put six fish in and it will clear up. Which has put my cycle back a week as have had to gently try to remove as much of the gunk as can. Was a complete nightmare.