Cleaning My 5 Gal Tank

[ThisGuy]

Hey, I'm some guy! I just got a 5g tank. I got a sucker fish (placo) and picked up some algae tabs, I asked the associate at the store if a whole one would be to much, they said it would be fine... next day my water was quite a bit murky! so how do i change the water in this small tank?! i know i need to add my declorinator to it and let it set for a while but from what i understand i'm only supposed to change 20% of the water at a time. the cleaner packet sayes use half a teaspoon per 5 gallons so does that mean i need to use like 2 drops for the 20% I'm replacing? and do i need to let it sit for 24 hours? or can i just seperate the fish and clean the whole tank and start over?

p.s. thanks for anyones advice, I've never done this before

 

[fluttermoth]

You can change as much water as you like; there's no reason to only do 20%; it won't stress you fish as long as the new water is warmed up and dechlorinated. You don't need to let it stand for 24 hours; that was done in the old days before we had dechlorinators to let the chlorine gas disappear.

You really could do with a gravel cleaner/syphon. Then you syphon the water out into a bucket while stirring up the gravel to get rid of uneaten food and fish poop. THe clean water can be carefully poured or syphoned back in.

The 'murkiness' in the water is probably a bacterial bloom; it's very common in new tanks and isn't too much to worry about; a few big water changes and some time should sort it out.

however; can I ask you if your tank has been 'cycled'? This means growing beneficial bacteria in your filter that eat the waste from the fish. If it hasn't been cycled, you'll need to be changing at least 50% of the water every day for the next few weeks until the bacteria grow.

Have a read of the articles in out beginners resource centre here; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

Also, do you know what kind of plec you have? As some of them grow up to two feet long and aren't suitable for such a small tank

hope this helps; please get back to us with any more questions you might have

 

[ThisGuy]

Hey thats the kinda help i wanted! i'll get to taking care of that cycling right away, and as far as pleco goes, a friend of mine is moving soon and leaving me with a 30 gallon, that should b ok right?

 

[fluttermoth]

You're very welcome

If you're doing a fish in-cycle, you really need to invest in a decent test kit. Don't bother with the paper strips; get a good liquid reqagent one, like the API master test Then you can monitor the quality of your water and will know when you need to do a water change (basically, any time ammonia or nitrite are above zero is time to do a big water change). You may need to test twice a day to begin with.

A 30 gallon is certainly better, though depending on the species of plec you have, it still may not be big enough long term! A pic would help us identify the species, if you can manage to take one and post it

 

[ThisGuy]

i set my profile pic to what he is, maybe that'll help

 

[fluttermoth]

It's a bit hard to tell from that pic, but it certainly looks like a common plec to me...full grown size around 24 inches...

 

[ThisGuy]

No sweat when the time comes i'll handle it beside i woouldnt mind a nice huge tank to take up my whole dresser someday! these fish are quite amazing!!!!

 

[fluttermoth]

I hope your dresser is really strong then! They are a gorgeous fish But you do need to get it out of that 5 gallon ASAP before he gets sick or stunted

 

[ThisGuy]

thanks again for the help! i'll post more when i get my new tank!