How often would you clean this tank?

[On_a_dishy]

By "clean" I mean clean the filter cannister, including the impeller, the hosing, the glass, hosing the gravel and doing around a 50% water change?
145 litre tank, lots of thriving plants. Two big chunks of mopani wood. 6 corys, 1 pleco, 2 dwarf gouramis that are in a constant state of wanting to mate, 2 balloon mollies, 2 female bettas and 3 tetras. They get fed all sorts - flakes, pellets, tiny bits of prawn, tiny bits of steak, and baby brine shrimp (as I'm also raising some baby betta).
I've been cleaning everything every two weeks (plus weekly 25% water changes), but because of this the water is always a bit cloudy and I keep destroying my lovely gourami's bubble nests. If I leave it a few days longer, the water goes beautifully clear but I feel guilty!

 

[Naughts]

I only clean the filters (plastic parts) every few months. I rinse the filter sponges weekly. If this creates cloudy water make sure you don't use chlorinated tap water, just swish the sponges in a bucket of old tank water. I also wipe the glass, clean over the substrate and change 50% of the water weekly.
Fish do not eat steak in nature and I imagine this will add pollution.

 

[On_a_dishy]

I only clean the filters (plastic parts) every few months. I rinse the filter sponges weekly. If this creates cloudy water make sure you don't use chlorinated tap water, just swish the sponges in a bucket of old tank water. I also wipe the glass, clean over the substrate and change 50% of the water weekly.
Fish do not eat steak in nature and I imagine this will add pollution.

 

[Rafayella16]

Up to 30% 1 a week.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I clean my filters once a month. No need to clean them any more often than that, unless you are battling hair algae or something similar.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

What do you mean by 'hosing the gravel'? Do you remove the gravel? Or do you mean a normal gravel vac with a syphon cleaner?

 

[On_a_dishy]

What do you mean by 'hosing the gravel'? Do you remove the gravel? Or do you mean a normal gravel vac with a syphon cleaner?

Normal gravel vac. Although my corys and pleco don't leave much to be vaccumed up!

 

[Colin_T]

Clean filter at least once a month after it has established.
Don't replace the filter media/ materials, just wash them in a bucket of tank water and re-use them so you keep the good bacteria in them.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every week or every fortnight, but do it at least once a fortnight. Weekly is preferable.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I give all tanks at least a 50% W/C weekly, some get 75% weekly. Filter media gets rinsed every week or every fortnight, depending on the tank/bioload, and the tanks with a heavy bioload - like the tank that currently has a load of fry of different ages growing out in it, so is heavily fed - get water changes 2-3 times per week.

Any time I water change, I gravel vac/clean the sand using the syphon. I only clean the front glass and sometimes the sides in my tank, the shrimp, pleco and otos (all different tanks) get to enjoy the biofilm and algae on the other tank walls.

Canister filters only get taken apart and deep cleaned when the hoses start to get nasty looking, about every two months.

Water changes are important to keep the water pristine, and rinsing the filter media often helps to keep that going. And giving the substrate a decent cleaning is important too. But I've learned to relax more about mulm, and not wanting to try to have the tank immaculate at all times. It is possible to over-clean a tank! Never have tanks look cloudy after a water change, besides perhaps for an hour or so if the substrate was stirred up a lot, but the filters should be capable of handling that. If yours looks cloudy after a water change, I'd do some investigating into your tap water.

 

[On_a_dishy]

Thank you! Can I ask what you use to clean the substrate? I have one of those tubes attached to a vacuum-style attachment which I get going by siphoning, but it's not very effective and often the bad stuff will just swirl around in the attachment instead of actually making it out through the hose.
I'm happy not to have to do the filter every fortnight, and I was making the mistake of washing the filter sponges in tap water (and not de-chlorinated) which I think was then affecting the good bacteria on the media. Lesson learnt!

 

[Colin_T]

Can I ask what you use to clean the substrate?

Basic model gravel cleaner like the one in the following link. You can also make one from a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle and garden hose.

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

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thank you! Can I ask what you use to clean the substrate? I have one of those tubes attached to a vacuum-style attachment which I get going by siphoning, but it's not very effective and often the bad stuff will just swirl around in the attachment instead of actually making it out through the hose.
I'm happy not to have to do the filter every fortnight, and I was making the mistake of washing the filter sponges in tap water (and not de-chlorinated) which I think was then affecting the good bacteria on the media. Lesson learnt!

Getting the syphon going properly just takes a few tips into technique, no worries!

I use a normal, cheap plastic gravel cleaner, like this one. Make sure to get the right size one for you tank, which comes down to preference, as well as the size of the tank! I have small ones for my small tanks, which have a sand substrate and a lot of plants I have to work around. For another smaller tank that has a gravel substrate, I use a medium sized one, since gravel gets wedged into the small size hose. A medium and an extra large one for the 57 gallon, since I need the reach the extra inches on the head part gives, and it would take forever to lower the water level on that big tank using a small syphon.

If you're not getting much flow when you gravel vac, you're probably holding the end side too high. The bit that goes in the water must be higher than the end piece of the tube that's going into the bucket. So place the bucket somewhere so it's lower than the level of the tank.

Then follow the technique Cory demonstrates here, so you can start a syphon without sucking on the end of a tube and getting a mouthful of tank water

Rinsing your filter media under the tap or in non-declorinated water would definitely account for the cloudy tank water! You were killing off big chunks of your beneficial bacteria. Your plants might well have saved the day and saved your fish! Glad you know now not to do that

Also noticed, since you're feeding chunks of things like prawn, your filters are likely to need cleaning more often than mine. That stuff will go manky and cause water problems if they don't consume it all, so I'd feed lightly when you use something like that, and maybe reserve feeding that kind of thing to only on the day before you're planning to clean the filter anyway, so you can get it out before it rots. Only feed a small bit at a time, so you can be sure the fish are eating it all.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Oh! I forgot to say. In that video, Cory crimps the tube to pause the flow while he's cleaning. I prefer just to put my thumb over the end of the hose that's in the bucket to pause the flow. I feel like it gives me more control than crimping the hose does. So long as you remember to keep that hand and that end of the hose lower than the water level, so it doesn't reduce the flow.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thank you! Can I ask what you use to clean the substrate? I have one of those tubes attached to a vacuum-style attachment which I get going by siphoning, but it's not very effective and often the bad stuff will just swirl around in the attachment instead of actually making it out through the hose.
I'm happy not to have to do the filter every fortnight, and I was making the mistake of washing the filter sponges in tap water (and not de-chlorinated) which I think was then affecting the good bacteria on the media. Lesson learnt!

Tank looks very clean!

Think about getting a background for the tank. Helps the fish feel more secure and less exposed, but a black background especially helps the colours of the fish and plants pop! and helps hide equipment and cables behind the tank

 

[On_a_dishy]

How do you use a background? I like the idea of one. Would my pleco manage to wriggle up between it and the glass, though? How do you attach it to the glass? Thanks for the idea - I may well be off to my LFS today!