Aquarium Cleaning

[SwampyMarc84]

Wonder if anyone can help I was wondering if I wanted to remove my fish from my aquarium and put them in a smaller tank to do a full deep clean on my tank (gravel, glass, pumps etc) would i need to cycle my tank again before returning the fish to my aquarium?

 

[Tuck]

Wonder if anyone can help I was wondering if I wanted to remove my fish from my aquarium and put them in a smaller tank to do a full deep clean on my tank (gravel, glass, pumps etc) would i need to cycle my tank again before returning the fish to my aquarium?

For the glass the fish can stay in, either wipe it down by hand (that's what I do) or buy one of those magnetic cleaners.

The filter and pumps should be cleaned weekly/bi-weekly anyway, just give a good clean in a bucket of TANK WATER.

As for gravel I vac mine 50/50 each week.

So there's really not much need to remove the fish, the ammonia cycle relies on bacteria, and unless your using chemicals you won't destroy them all so don't worry about it.

 

[SwampyMarc84]

Thanks Tuck

 

[Rivercats]

One thing, when cleaning your filter/s be sure not to clean any bio-media in them. And as already stated be sure to rinse/clean them in tank water so as not to kill any BB. Plus depending on the type of filter you have weekly cleaning isn't necessary unless you have a really overstocked dirty tank. I have canister filters that get cleaned once a month. I don't normally use HOB filters anymore but do have one on a 55g and it usually needs once a month cleaning also. You can check the filter weekly but unless it's really dirty I wouldn't clean it except monthly. It's worked well for me over the past 30+ years.

 

[BBradbury]

Tank Cleaning

Wonder if anyone can help I was wondering if I wanted to remove my fish from my aquarium and put them in a smaller tank to do a full deep clean on my tank (gravel, glass, pumps etc) would i need to cycle my tank again before returning the fish to my aquarium?

Hello Swamp...

You don't need to do all that cleaning. Vacuum the substate in the areas where you have no plants if you want to, but too thorough a cleaning will remove some of the good bacteria that lives on the surfaces inside the tank. Vacuuming isn't necessary for a planted tank. The fish and plant material that settles to the bottom will dissolve and feed the plants.

You do need to remove and replace half the tank water every week or so and replace that with pure, treated tap water. This is enough to maintain a clean tank, that's safe for your fish and plants.

B

 

[Fishlover3578]

If you switch to Sand it stays cleaner than gravel