Cleaning my aquarium

[Nicky1968]

Hi guys and girls. Can I seek advice on the best way to clean your aquarium (replacing water etc.). 54 L tank, 13 tetras, 2 dwarf frogs. 2 weeks in .... thanks. Also decided to swap stones for sand for the frogs

 

[Rocky998]

An aquarium siphon. The most essential tool for tank maintenance

 

[Colin_T]

Get a basic model gravel cleaner like the one in the following link. Use it to syphon 1/2 the tank water out and clean the gunk out of the substrate at the same time. You syphon the dirty water into a bucket that is used specifically for the fish.

Aquarium Cleaning Made Easy

Aquarium cleaning should take 30 minutes every two weeks. Learn how the professionals do it in 18 easy steps.

www.about-goldfish.com

Get a couple of new 10-20 litre food grade buckets and use a permanent marker to write "FISH ONLY" on them. Use those buckets for the fish tank and nothing else.

There are videos on YouTube that show how to start and use a gravel cleaner if the local pet shop won't show you.

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After you have drained half the tank water out, pour it on the lawn outside.
Fill a bucket with tap water and add the required amount of dechlorinator. Stir it up/ aerate it for at least 5 (preferably 30) minutes, then add it to the tank.

If you have a couple of buckets, you can fill one with tap water and dechlorinator and aerate it while you gravel clean the tank into the other bucket.

 

[Essjay]

When you change to sand, you can't clean that the same as gravel or you'd end up with all the sand in the bucket. Instead, hover the end of the tube about 1 cm above the sand and make little swirling movements. That will lift the debris off the sand to where it can be sucked up.
I've taken that wide plastic tube off the flexible tubing and just use that to siphon my tanks.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Be sure to make weekly water changes part of of your fish/frog keeping hobby

 

[Lcc86]

Before you put any sand in, make sure you wash it in a bucket first. Once the sand is in the tank, a good tip is to place a bowl on top of the sand and then pour the water into that bowl so that it slowly pours onto the sand and minimises substrate disruption, as opposed to pouring the water straight onto the sand and disturbing it. Use either Aquarium sand or play sand (can buy from Argos if in the UK).

 

[sharkweek178]

Before you put any sand in, make sure you wash it in a bucket first. Once the sand is in the tank, a good tip is to place a bowl on top of the sand and then pour the water into that bowl so that it slowly pours onto the sand and minimises substrate disruption, as opposed to pouring the water straight onto the sand and disturbing it. Use either Aquarium sand or play sand (can buy from Argos if in the UK).

I just pour water on to my hand for the same effect.

 

[Lcc86]

I just pour water on to my hand for the same effect.

Haha never thought of that! I pour mine onto my skull decor, more or less minimises disruption, just have to smooth out one corner when I'm done. Anything to avoid clouds of sand!

 

[Rocky998]

I use a garden hose and have a valve at the end where I control water pressure and I put it onto hardscape.

 

[Nicky1968]

So, do the livestock stay I their tank, whilst undertaking this, with half full water the

 

[Rocky998]

So, do the livestock stay I their tank, whilst undertaking this, with half full water the

Yes.
What fish are in there?

 

[Nicky1968]

Yes.
What fish are in there?

Tetras, 7 neons and 6 others

 

[Rocky998]

Tetras, 7 neons and 6 others

Yah, you'll be perfectly fine to do that large of a water change with that amount of fish

 

[Essjay]

Changing to sand - yes move them. They need to be in a separate container, covered - even with an old towel.
Prepare the sand before starting to keep the transition time to a minimum. The water will probably be a bit cloudy afterwards as it's impossible to get sand totally and utterly clean but it will clear.

Water changes - leave the fish in there - but be aware where the fish are. If they get too close to the siphon, clamp the tubing flat with your spare hand to stop the water flow.

 

[Colin_T]

So, do the livestock stay I their tank, whilst undertaking this, with half full water the

Fish, plants, shrimp, snails, etc, all stay in the tank when you do a water change.

Turn the heater, light and filter off a couple of minutes before doing the water change. This is especially important for glass aquarium heaters that need a few minutes to cool down. If you put cold water on a hot heater, you can crack the glass. Make sure you turn them back on after the water change.

Remove coverglass and rinse under tap water.

Use a clean soap free sponge to wipe the inside of the glass.

Make sure you don't have any perfume, moisturising cream, hand sanitiser, oil, grease, or anything else on your hands and arms when working on the tank.
If you use a soap to wash up beforehand, make sure it doesn't contain perfumes because they can leave a residue on your skin.