I Need Help On How To Clean The Tank (especially Gravel)

[MattM1124]

Ok, I have a 29 gallon tank which has been running for about 2 months now. I have 2 otocinclus, 2 gold barred platys, 2 tequila sunrise guppies, 1 black phantom tetra, and an apple snail. I had 2 other ones but they died.

Would anyone be able to walk me through step by step the best way to change the water and clean the gravel? Once a week I've been taking out at least half of the water and replacing it with new water. I tried cleaning the gravel twice with a battery powered cleaner but it just seems to move all the dirt around and make the water really cloudy and horrible looking. I tried a regular gravel cleaner too. I always leave my fish in the tank while I clean it.

I'm just looking for step by step instructions on the best way to clean it. Like if it's better to take the fish out, then what to clean first, gravel, plants, filter..etc

I really need help on the best way to clean the gravel since everything I do just moves all the dirt around and makes the water worse.

Also my ammonia has been high recently and I don't know why. The tank has been set up for 2 months now. I do reg water changes and recently my ph was below 6 so I gradually raised it up to 7 could that be the problem?

Thanks in advance!

 

[fourthtimelucky]

There's a really good pinned topic at the top of the forum which should help.

If the battery-powered vac isn't really working you could try a manual one (the type with a none-return valve), I've got one and it's really easy to use.

 

[MattM1124]

I've actually tried a manual one too. It does pick up some dirt but isn't there a better way to clean it so that it doesn't make the water really dirty and have dirt floating everywhere for awhile. Is that good for the fish?

 

[dwarfgourami]

I think some disturbance of the water is unavoidable. If you do it once a week it shouldn't be too bad. And I doubt it does the fish much harm- think about rainstorms in the tropics, they must stir up quite a bit.

 

[pauly]

A manual syphon is the best. One end in an empty bucket, the vaccuum end in the tank - push it up and down several times until the water flow into the bucket is maximum, then go around the gravel bit by bit.

I imagine that if you have a lot of dirt floating around, you either aren't cleaning it often enough or you're not using the syphon to its full potential.

As for a step by step guide, this is what I do:

- take out a few jugs of water and pour into a bucket
- clean my filter in the water I've poured into the bucket and then replace it
- take out and clean ornaments and plants (I don't have any real plants), again using the water in the bucket
- use the syphon cleaner on the gravel whilst the fish are in, they tend to keep out the way
- sometimes I get a lot of dirt floating around, so I use a net to gather the larger particles
- by that stage enough water has been removed, so I replace the ornaments and plants
- then refill the tank with clean conditioned water

Cheers,

Paul.

 

[pauly]

double post

 

[MattM1124]

Thanks Paul.

The problem is my tank is a 29 gallon but it's longer then it is tall. When I tried the manual gravel cleaner I couldn't get the water to start coming up the tube. Then when I asked my dad about it since he's had fish for a long time he said that the whole cleaner has to be submerged in the water to get it going and to keep it going. With my tank the whole thing doesn't fit in. Is that true or what was the problem? That's why I switched to the battery powered one and it did pick up quite a lot of dirt.

 

[arvlyn]

Thanks Paul.

The problem is my tank is a 29 gallon but it's longer then it is tall. When I tried the manual gravel cleaner I couldn't get the water to start coming up the tube. Then when I asked my dad about it since he's had fish for a long time he said that the whole cleaner has to be submerged in the water to get it going and to keep it going. With my tank the whole thing doesn't fit in. Is that true or what was the problem? That's why I switched to the battery powered one and it did pick up quite a lot of dirt.

You can do it that way but IMO, there's an easier way. When I used my manual siphon, I'd fill it with water from the faucet, put my thumb over the smaller end and carry it to the aquarium so the larger end was higher. I'd place the larger end in the aquarium and the smaller end in a bucket set on the floor, then remove my thumb...the siphoning action would start right away.

 

[Thirdfloor]

Thanks Paul.

The problem is my tank is a 29 gallon but it's longer then it is tall. When I tried the manual gravel cleaner I couldn't get the water to start coming up the tube. Then when I asked my dad about it since he's had fish for a long time he said that the whole cleaner has to be submerged in the water to get it going and to keep it going. With my tank the whole thing doesn't fit in. Is that true or what was the problem? That's why I switched to the battery powered one and it did pick up quite a lot of dirt.

You can do it that way but IMO, there's an easier way. When I used my manual siphon, I'd fill it with water from the faucet, put my thumb over the smaller end and carry it to the aquarium so the larger end was higher. I'd place the larger end in the aquarium and the smaller end in a bucket set on the floor, then remove my thumb...the siphoning action would start right away.

Arvlyn beat me to it on the siphon starting trick. Aren't you glad you dont have to suck on the siphon hose anymore?

 

[MattM1124]

So then the whole cleaner doesn't have to be submerged in the water? I actually did get some water coming through the hose but not enough and not consistently.

 

[vinylman]

Aside from the water changes, I'd up the numbers of the fish you have. Most fish feel more secure in groups of 5/6 or more. In a well filtered 29G, you'd have enough room to do this. I'd up the Otos to five or six, too.

 

[CriX098]

Arvlyn beat me to it on the siphon starting trick. Aren't you glad you dont have to suck on the siphon hose anymore?

Okay... I guess other people are using this method successfully, cool. Filling the tube beforehand with tap water occurred to me but I was worried about the chlorine contamination. I suppose if you release your thumb as soon as you lower the vacuum into the water then you'll be fine.

Hmm, will try this when I get home. I'm so excited to drive to my three local hardware stores after work and look for pure ammonia.

It's pretty amazing that you can simply add a food souce and trust that bacteria will happen upon it. While there about 1 trillion human cells in the average human body there are about 10 trillion bacteria cells in our guts!! Bacteria are awesome! We need 'em just as much as the fishies.

 

[dthoffsett]

Or you could not deal with the hassle of buckets and manual syphons and get a Python. They attach to the faucet and you can drain and refill your tank without ever lifting a bucket. Here are a couple of links.

[URL="http/www.pythonproducts.com/aqprod.html"]http/www.pythonproducts.com/aqprod.html[/URL]
[URL="http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754886&cp=2767036.2769123&fbn=Taxonomy%7CAquarium+Maintenance&fbc=1&clickid=topnav_dropdown4_link3&parentPage=family&keepsr=1"]http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?...ly&keepsr=1[/URL]

 

[Chrispixx]

If your handy enough you can make your own Python, if you already have a manual gravel vac then you already have the main part. If your LFS sells Python replacement parts they may have the faucet siphon/fill part, hose couplers/switch, then you just go to your local home center and get the clear hose in the length you need and hook it up. Thats what i did it works great.

 

[goosej13]

First of all... Getting the syphon to go by sucking on it.. PRICELESS hahah soooo many mouth fulls of water hahaha... The way Iv heard ppl do it is just get a big rubbermaid bin or just a bucket even.... your only going to be taking out about 10-15 gallons so you don't really need to get long hoses.... For me... i hang the hose right out the window and pump er outside... then take the house and hook it up to my tap get the temp about the same and pump away... no mess ... you can even use a garden hose.. go get a cheap one from your hardware store... BUT id run some water through it first for a bit to kinda rinse any rubber stuff out... I wouldn't recomend it tho cause I don't know what kind of oils are used in the rubber and what not... mabey none mabey lots who knows haha... But for your small setup... id just get a pail and use that... Its cheap