Tank Cleaning?

[nate9]

i was just wondering how often you guys would clean a 25 gallon freshwater tank. the guy at the fish store told me i didnt have to clean it at all but i was just wondering.

 

[catxx]

the guy in the fish store was lying!!

it depends, i've never had a tank that big so i don't know from personal experience. if i did have that i'd probably do about 20-30% a week, but it would depend what stuff was living in there.

what kind of filter you have? what fish are in it? what kind of gravel?

 

[Bloo]

i was just wondering how often you guys would clean a 25 gallon freshwater tank. the guy at the fish store told me i didnt have to clean it at all but i was just wondering.

It depends somewhat on what type of filtration you have. But in an ideal world, you'd do a gravel vac (lightly vacuum gravel to remove poo and debris etc.) and remove around 30% of the water. Replace with dechlorianted tapwater of approx the same temperature (use something like Stress Coat to dechlorinate, remove chloramine and heavy metals etc.).

The filter should be cleaned every week to two weeks (depending on stocking levels of tank and bio load of fish). Wash filter media in the siphoned tank water - not neat tapwater.

HTH

 

[nate9]

i have 2 glass fish, 2 male guppies, 4 zebras, a suckermouth cat, a platy(i think), and some sort of rainbow fish( maybe a praecox rainbow). i have an under gravel filter.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Once a week water change + gravel vac is good practice, replacing 20-30% of the water. Maybe the guy meant you don't have to take the fish out and scrub the tank.

 

[nate9]

ok thanks for the advice but how exactly do i go about cleaning the gravel( do i need to buy a certain pice of equitment) and to take the water out i dont need anyspecial eqiutment do i? also when changing the water is it ok to use the water from my hose, it is from a well not city water, the guy said that would be perfect but he was wrong ounce so was he wrong again? one last question, how many more fish do think i could have in that tank?

Thanks
nate

 

[dwarfgourami]

The simplest way is to buy a gravel vac at an lfs; they are quite cheap (c. 3 pounds). I find the smallest size is the easiest to use, particularly in a planted tank.

Switch off the electrics first- don't want to electrocute yourself.

Put a bucket on the floor below the tank (or on a chair if the tank is high up), stick the wide end of the vac in the tank and the other end in a bucket. Move the bit inside the tank up and down priming it with water to get the suction going and then as the water begins to flow move it over the gravel hoovering up the guck.

Your well water is probably fine. I would still use dechlorinator though just in case of heavy metals. And it's cheap and harmless. I add a a bit of hot water to my bucket to bring it up to temperature before pouring in. I use a plastic jug to put water back rather than the bucket so as not to cause too much disruption to the tank.

Don't forget to turn the electrics on afterwards!

 

[Soaup]

Haha wow! you have to clean it just like you would clean any other, You also need to clean the filter. No tanks never need to be cleaned. I cant believe he said that to you.

 

[Bloo]

Haha wow! you have to clean it just like you would clean any other, You also need to clean the filter. No tanks never need to be cleaned. I cant believe he said that to you.

Hard to believe, but I distinctly remember when I started fishkeeping (donkey's years ago) the chap in the shops said it's perfectly ok to clean the tank only once a year !

yeah right ! (not)

 

[solidshark55]

i have cleaned the tank a 15% water change all this stuff is floting in the water now help what did i do

 

[dwarfgourami]

i have cleaned the tank a 15% water change all this stuff is floting in the water now help what did i do

Not to worry. It is often depressing to find that the tank looks messier just after the clean than before. Remember that the really lethal bits are the chemicals you can't see, and you've just taken those out. The gucky bits have been stirred up which means more will get sucked into the filter- also a good thing.