6 replies to this topic

[Rich T]

Hi all, been a while since I have looked in. I am wondering how often, members to a full clean of their tanks ?, as in, remove the fish, clean the gravel, clean the tank thoroughly etc. I do 1/2 tank water changes at least once every 2 weeks but I know there is buildup of food and waste under rocks etc after some time.

Just curious as to what the members thoughts here are on this.

Cheers

Richard

[dazzabozza]

am wondering how often, members to a full clean of their tanks ?, as in, remove the fish, clean the gravel, clean the tank thoroughly etc.

Gday Richard

I grew up with the mis-conception that "clean" meant "humanly clean" if u know wot I mean Basically for something to be clean I thought it meant removing all the water and replacing with new, scrubbing the glass, rinsing (in tap water = BAD) the gravel, filters etc etc to the point that it was "clean enough to eat off" in a sense. This may have been ok in the lightly-stocked tank I had at the time but I now realise it's a BIG NO NO due to the fact that I was also killing off the majority of the bacteria responsible for denitrification.

In my maintenance regime I tend to minimise the amount of drastic changes and at the same time keep a close eye on my levels (mainly PH and nitrate with the occasional ammonia, nitrite check). E.g. If doing a gravel clean this will cover the water change at the same time. If cleaning a filter I don't do anything else to the tank. If the filter was to crash I don't want excess levels to be present from upsetting concentrated pockets trapped under the substrate and/or rocks.

To answer your question I only gravel clean and remove excess detritus from under rocks probably every 3 months. Most of my tanks nitrates peak at 20 with water changes every 3 weeks. This is probably an extremely long period of time compared to other members but I combat it by over-filtering and a decent flow rate across most areas of the tank to prevent dead spots (build up zones). The only real worry is species of fish that tend to dig a lot might open up one of these trapped pockets and get ammonia burn etc.

My suggestion is to closely monitor your levels. If you're continously battling high ammonia, nitrites or nitrates then you'll either need to increase your filtration and/or water changes and gravel cleans.


Dazza

[Rich T]

G'day Dazza, thanks for the reply, most appreciated. My water is pretty good. I am not a keep of large stocks so I have lesser issues with nitrates and the likes than perhaps other do. In a near 800 ltr tank, I have 2 Clavus, 6 Fronts, 3 or 4 ( I have not seen one for the last week) Lelupi, and 2 upside down catfish. The Fronts are breeding happily and regularly. For the most part, it is a happy tank. Besides the catfish, it is a Tanganyikan tank.

I was kind of thinking a full clean once every 6 t 8 months. It's sort of where I am at at the moment. Things seem to be ok, I am just curious as to what others do and why.

Cheers mate

Richard

p.s. I just spent about 20 seconds trying to kill that crazy bug on my screen

[booze]

what size tank is it for 800l? sounds like you havent got many fish in there to foul it up anyway! what sort of filtration you running as well??? as for that build up of waste that you can see, just siphon it out with some tubing, just dont suck the fish up!
like to see pics of your tank too mate

[Rich T]

what size tank is it for 800l? sounds like you havent got many fish in there to foul it up anyway! what sort of filtration you running as well??? as for that build up of waste that you can see, just siphon it out with some tubing, just dont suck the fish up!
like to see pics of your tank too mate

G'day Booze. so it is 5' x 2.5' x 2, I have an Eheim Classic 2217.

I have been using the vacuum method for a while. it does work, except ofr under the rocks of course.

I need to take some fresh images of the tank so I will do that soon and post them in the appropriate place. I have attached and older image just for the time being. These guys have groen a bit since then LOL

Cheers

Richard

 frontys.jpg   37.7KB   45 downloads

[4x4xfar]

Nice Frontosas Mate, I too have a colony of Frontosa's, 6 in total. and they're only about 10cm!
Six 10cm Frontosa's in a 6x2x2 tank! They've got it made!

My cleaning Regime for all my tanks is bi-weekly.

Every 2 weeks its a 25% Water change/Gravel Clean

Every 4 weeks I clean the Canister Filters.

I nevery do both at the same time and I never take anything out of the tank to clean it.

[Rich T]

Thanks mate, my two males are up around 17 + 20cm's, the female is about 13cm's, her 3 kids are probably 10cm's, 7cm's and the youngest now about 4 or 5 cm's. My 2 Calvus are both about 10cm's as well. They are brutes LOL.

Cheers

Richard