Always Had Trouble Keeping It Clean

[osiris]

hey, i have come to you for advice on cleaning methods, i have seen pictures of some very large tanks on this site and they look absolutely spotless! i try to keep mine the same but i think my tank has only ever been the same amount of 'clean' when it was brand new, i dont know whether its the filter, the filter medium, my water change schedule or the my lack of knowledge on cleaning things like plants etc.

Any advice on my tank having spotless water would be much appreciated.

 

[kizno1]

What filter do you have? how many LPH does it do?
Whats fish are in the tank?
has the tank been cycled?
How long has it been running?

 

[osiris]

i have no idea what filter it is, i know that sounds bad but it came with the tank, it seems big enough and has enough space and compartments that i assumed it would be good enough, one thing that keeps happening is dead leaves and junk get stuck in the water inlet slowing the water through it down so LPH varies although i try to keep it clear from debris, it forces it out pretty quickly so i think it does sufficient LPH.
It has 2 large severums and two large festive cichlids with a kribensis who is just a temporary fish at the moment.
Yeah its been cycled (well, when i got it i filled it with approximately 70% used water from my previous tank along with filter medium) and is probably at least a year old and when i got it... i feel like i know nothing about maintenance though despite being a fish keeper for several years..

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

^All that stuff and....
filter maintenance is essential. Change the floss regularly, check for blockages etc etc.
If water is regularly becoming murky then you may not have enough filtration on there and chemical build-up will occur. Cleaning algae from glass (always fun) takes the right tools, especially in larger tanks and sift through the substrate every water change to stop air pockets etc which will also keep it looking clean from top to bottom.
P.
P.S: Certain fish will always destroy your attempts at pristine tank status. Catfish are notorious for pulling up plants, cichlids sift the substrate and move it about....and eat plants, larger fish can and will move tank furniture around, destroying the look you created so.....if you're doing all the right things and it still looks....well, lived in, think of it as we do our homes. Lovely when looking pristine, but spends most of the time looking, well, lived in!

 

[kizno1]

Does the filter not say how many LPH it does? The tank sounds overstocked. Is to small for 1 sev let alone 2 IMO.

 

[osiris]

Aha, cheers, its not the cleaning of the glass thats the issue... its the water quality, i'll try some new filter media and give the tank a a full do over and see where that gets me..

thanks

 

[Assaye]

Aha, cheers, its not the cleaning of the glass thats the issue... its the water quality, i'll try some new filter media and give the tank a a full do over and see where that gets me..

thanks

New filter media will uncycle your tank unless you are very careful. Maybe replace a small amount with some floss, though. I find adding a second filter helps - one that just polishes the water and is full of floss, carbon and other mechanical media.

Doing very regular gravel cleans helps. Large fish poo a lot and even my 4 inch plec produces a disturbing amount of poo. Water always looks manky in that tank despite regular gravel cleans Keep the glass clean inside and out and scrub ornaments every few weeks.

 

[Emissary of Pain]

Hey all ...

When I got my 1st 63g tank I had the same problem ... It was easily solved with the same advice u are getting ... Check and make sure you have the correct Lph ... It needs to be a min of 5x the tanks volume and 10x the tank volume is preferred ...

My 63g is running 450gph filtration (240L tank with 1700lph filtration) and the tank looks crystal apart from my newly added driftwood still leaching tannins after 2 weeks of soaking


The only problem I now have is my pleco is a S*** factory ... lol ...


Regards,
Richard.

 

[meguro]

put an external filter on it

 

[Emissary of Pain]

put an external filter on it

Who ... lol ... the starter of the thread or me ...

 

[meguro]

the thread starter

 

[Emissary of Pain]

hehehe ... oops ... ...

Sorry the confusion ...

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Put up some pics of the tank in question Might help us provide you with some further tips!

 

[Davo86]

^ Agreed, it may also help to id the tank and the filter in question,

Generally though if a filter comes with a tank, then IME there isn't going to be sufficient filtration for anything more than your smaller community fish species. i.e. adding plants and larger fish species will inevitably lead to more mess and so a filter upgrade is always going to be necessary.

To give you an idea, on my old rio 240 I had running a Tetratex EX1200 and a Fluval 4+

 

[ChilliPepper]

It has 2 large severums and two large festive cichlids with a kribensis who is just a temporary fish at the moment.

^ This is your problem ^

Cichlids are very messy fish, and the tank is not big enough for a single Sev, let alone two plus the Festivs and Kribs. Your filter cannot cope with the amount of waste they are producing. You say that they are large - how big are they?

You would need to heavily overfilter to keep these fish healthy and the tank clean, however I really think you'd be better off spending the money on a larger tank of 400L+.

You would need at least a 6x turnover (litres per hour) if keeping them in this small tank. If you got the 400L you'd be wanting at least a 4x turnover.
To give you an idea, I have my below stock, including 2 juvi Sevs and an Oscar, in my 168g and I am running at 8.5x turnover.