Water changes

[Anna94]

Is it ok to vacuum the gravel during EVERY water change? Is it also ok to do a deep clean (taking everything out, except the fish and filters, and soaking them in vinegar/water and vacuuming the gravel in the spots where those items were and then vacuum the rest of the gravel) every once in awhile?

 

[RetiredJedi]

At most chain stores (the ones that take aquatics seriously) this is a weekly practice. I would say, as long as you are adding some bacteria like Safe Start and not changing your filters at the same time, it's fine. As long as you mind your biological filter during the process, I don't see a problem with it. Your substrate should retain most of your bacteria anyway.

If you were removing EVERYTHING, including gravel, then I would be worried about crashing a cycle.

 

[Metatron]

I never heard of the vinegar/water soaking. What is the process? What does it do?

 

[RetiredJedi]

Basically you would do a 50/50 vinegar to water ratio, or stronger of you want, then pull out all your plastic decorations and let them soak a while.

Just a non-toxic way to clean the algae or whatever off your decor.

 

[Fresh2o]

I never heard of the vinegar/water soaking. What is the process? What does it do?

I believe the vinegar is used as a general disinfectant and, in this case, to help control algae and diatoms. It is also used to dissolve mineral buildup.

 

[Metatron]

I get just a little algae on the fake plants, they don't stand up to a scrubbing so I just end up throwing them out after a while. Would love to have a way to clean them, I'll try this.

 

[Metatron]

I'm assuming white vinegar?

 

[RetiredJedi]

Yes, distilled white vinegar

 

[TheScientist]

Yeah, my brother removed all of the substrate from our tank, and replaced with sand (long story) and our tank crashed - we were losing 1 fish every day for a week or so. Checked the parameters, and ammonia/nitrites were super high.

 

[Andy Sager]

There's not much cause to do major cleaning like you describe unless you are over feeding or under filtered. Better than doing a massive clean, mentally divide your gravel bed into a grid ( the smaller the tank, the more spaces you should have) and only clean 1 section at each water change. That way, your bacteria bed has a chance to regenerate and your levels should still remain stable. As for cleaning items in the tank, again, a few at a time is better than them all. Nitrifying bacteria lives all over the tank and so it's the total amount in the tank, not just in the gravel or filter, that keeps your water stable. So make your decor part of the cleaning grid as well.

There's something called "Old Tank Syndrome" that get people worried because they have a setup going for years. OTS is caused by improper maintenance over time not by the age of the setup. Routine water changes and cleaning can have a tank running healthy for many years. Just keep checking your levels to make sure nothing is going wrong.