Survey on tank cleaning.

[Bdonaldson]

Just wondering what everyone else does to clean there tanks and how often. Thanks.

 

[somecallmedaniel16]

I am in the process of re-setting up my 20 gallon high medium-light planted tank.

In the past, when my planted tank was fully established with about 15 small fish and pretty densely planted, I would do a 30-40% water change every 2 weeks or so, perhaps a little bit more time. I had a lot of snails that kept the algae off my driftwood, rocks, and tank walls quite well; they managed their populations enough to do that. My fish and plants were health and happy during this time.

 

[Darkseid76]

Gravel vac, straight razor, 5 gallon bucket, scissors.

Every weekend PWC avg 20%.

Filter maintenance: whenever lol

The razor is for glass cleaning, scissors for pruning.

 

[Loddy Dod]

I do a 25% water changes and gravel vac weekly. Also just scrub off algae almost everyday.

 

[blizowman1]

I have an assortment of scissors and tweezers for trimming and replanting.
I change weekly roughly 50% of my water because I dose dry ferts.
I clean my filters whenever I notice flow is decreasing.
And suck the mulm off the top of the substrate but never push down into it because I use eco complete and the mulm just turns into plant nutrients.

 

[Billbug68]

Weekly tank cleaning:

Trim any plants, if needed.
Clean glass
Toothbrush algae off stones
30-40% water change.

Monthly filter clean:

Clean all media in tank water from water change
Recharge purigen
Replace polishing pads
Clean filter tubes

Done!

Top off with distilled water throughout the week as needed.

It's really pretty simple.

 

[Cactuspixie]

Pwc twice a week (including gravel clean)

Rinse sponge filter every 2 weeks or as needed

Clean canisters every 3 months

The occupants clean everything else.

 

[Rokuzachi]

50% WC every week.
Scrub glass if necessary.
Clean the FX5 every other month.
Clean the 405 every other week.

I have boatloads of MTS and eco complete, and lots of deeply rooted plants so I have yet to vac the gravel since I set it up.

 

[Oohitsae]

25-40% change any time I notice a decent amount detritus on the sand, usually about 2x weekly, gravel vacc'ing included each time even with the large amount of rooted and stem plants, I hate seeing the substrate looking dirty

Certain plants are trimmed weekly, others every 2-3 weeks

Clean glass 1x/month on the inside and out

Filter gets cleaned every 2 weeks

Paintball tank gets replaced every 10 days
Diffuser is brushed down every other week (for some reason sand likes to get on it)

Then every other month I make sure to do a good cleaning on the plants themselves, some are real bad algea magnets even with the co2

 

[Peteostler43614]

20-30% pic every week to week and a half...

 

[Bdonaldson]

Thanks to everyone who replied. It's nice to know that I am doing thing the right way.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Ok this is really funny. Have you ever heard of a dog getting excited when you clean your tank. I cleaned my tank last night and she was wagging her tail waiting to chase the water while it was going through the hose. Now she is waiting patiently for the water to go through.

 

[Old Scales]

LOL Looks like you've got a good "helper" there.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Yeah, she will even pass up chasing the flash light for this.

 

[thursyanna]

OK, I have to ask, (of subject, I know)! What kind of dog is she? She's adorable!!

 

[Bdonaldson]

OK, I have to ask, (of subject, I know)! What kind of dog is she? She's adorable!!

Thank you. She is a tiny toy poodle. She is One year and two months old. She weighs 5.2 lbs. and that is as big as she will get. She is my spoiled baby.

 

[thursyanna]

Thank you. She is a tiny toy poodle. She is One year and two months old. She weighs 5.2 lbs. and that is as big as she will get. She is my spoiled baby.

I wondered if she was a toy poodle (or mix). I've been looking at them and thinking about getting one in a few years. I have 2 outdoor dogs right now and 2 cats so I have to wait until they get old and die first!