i hav been told to empty my tank about 25% every week but i want to know how will that keep the water clean and how do i clean the gravel at the bottom?
2006-11-13 05:59:07 · 13 answers · asked by daz1190 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Ammonia is a letal component that comes from fish waste. Water changes redduces the ammount of ammonia in the water, keeping your fish alive!!..
go to the store and buy this vacumm... its a tube you put in the tank.. give it a little suck and its starts pulling water out of the tank, you move arround the gravel and less waste goes to your filter... Its very simple and cheap but it serves its purpose.
Whatever you do DO NOT LISTEN TO THE GUY THAT SAID: EMPTY YOUR WHOLE TANK!!!!!!
You will kill all the beneficial bacteria and give your fish a chance to do what they do best... die..
Clean the substrate once a week, and replace that water you sucked out...
Plecos (suckermouths) do not clean the tank... they produce fish waste as any other fish does... their only purpose is to eat algae, they will not help you clean the tank except for soft green algae.
2006-11-13 07:15:08 · answer #1 · answered by Ricky 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ok, at wall-mart, or petsmart, petco, you can buy a gravel cleaner- it is called a PYTHON- they have a 25 foot or 50 foot-
I use mine about once a month- I suck water from the bottom, putting the vack down into the gravel and move it around.
I suck the water down to almost the bottom (leaving enough room for the fish to still swim, (I never take my fish out to clean)
then I use a paper towel, clean the sides of the tank- clean the filters- I am running a 330 Bio-wheel, and a 402 powerhead, I then put tap water conditioner in the tank, and fill it right back up from my kitchen sink.
the tap water conditioner is put out by :Aquarium Pharmaceuticals.
its the best (in my opinion)
I have a 50 Gal tank- and I have had it up and running for 7 years now, no problems, no dead fish!
also I have a 100 watt, 12 inch heater in the set to 70 degrees.
hopes this helps.
2006-11-13 10:36:47 · answer #2 · answered by BubbleGumBoobs! 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They sell a small vacuum at the fish stores to clean the gravel. Taking 25% out will clean out some of the fish waste
2006-11-13 06:00:51 · answer #3 · answered by daanzig 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the ignoramous has it right all these fools on here dont know what they are talkin about, you should never disturb the gravel this is what keeps your tank clean if you have alot of debris on gravel you are over feeding, if you feel you must clean gravel just do it on the surface. when you do the water changes all your doing basically is freshing the water from the fish waste which will cause high ammonia levels
2006-11-13 10:22:41 · answer #4 · answered by howie 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you need a gravel vac to syphon the water. Also it all depends on the type of fish and how big the tank you have to determine how much water should be taken out the bigger and messier the fish the more water should be cleaned for example I have a 7 inch Oscar I change 50-70% of the water
2006-11-13 06:44:39 · answer #5 · answered by C live 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The 25% water changes is to remove dissolved solids, ammonia, and help to buffer the PH of the water. You can use this to your advantage by buying a gravel vacuum which uses suction caused by draining water to remove the solid waste from the gravel. Two birds one stone.
2006-11-13 06:03:10 · answer #6 · answered by Brian K² 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Believe it or not there is a thing called a "Gravel Vacuum" that cleans the gravel as it sucks water out. My wife bought one on-line from the link below.
2006-11-13 06:02:30 · answer #7 · answered by tumbleweed1954 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I believe the gravel at the bottom needs no cleaning if you clean the water. It develops its own "ecosystem" of good bacteria that does away with the waste.
By only changing 25% of the water each time, you are diluting out the chemicals that build up and would hurt the fish. You are not shocking the fish with 100 % fresh chlorinated water out of the tap.
2006-11-13 06:02:30 · answer #8 · answered by ignoramus 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Plz take up concepts there is no fish that does the cleansing of the tank for you, there's a fish for particular purpose like ingesting algae and ingesting the remaining nutrients on the bottom of the tank, for that pleccs, cat-fish a, algae eaters and loaches will be seen. The cleansing of the tank will be continually your interest and duty.
2016-11-23 19:46:03 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
petco & stores like that should sell this thing that you clean the gravel with. it sucks out water at the same time. i'm not sure what they are called. it's a hose with this plastic thing attached to it. you move the plastic thing around in the gravel once you the the sucton going.
2006-11-13 06:02:50 · answer #10 · answered by Angie 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋