how often do u....?

Question

clean out a 10 gallon fish tank??and how do u do it?

Answer 1

You should do it about once a week.
Use a syphon tube. You can buy them at any petstore. You will also need a clean bucket (that you use for fish ONLY - never for cleaning products).
Take the syphon tube and put the wide end into the tank. You can either fill the tube completely with water, pump it up and down, or just suck the other end of it to create a vacuum. This will pull the water out of the tank - and into the bucket. If you have a 5 gallon bucket, fill it a little over half way with tank water. This will remove about 25-30% of the tank water. You can also stick the end of the syphon into the gravel and pull up all sorts of muck.
Stop syphoning. Chuck the water down the bathtub (or use it to water your plants / garden), and refill the tank with new water. Make sure that it is the same temperature as the tank and that you have treated it with a dechlorinator.

That's the main job.
Other than that, you may want to clean out the filter. Just remove the sponge and swish it around in the bucket of old tank water. Do not rinse or replace it.
You may also want to get an aquarium sponge to wipe down any algae or anything that might be accumulating on the glass.

Answer 2

In my 10 gallons, I do it every other week.

Get a gravel siphon. I like the smoke colored oval shaped ones they sell at the chain pet stores. Get a smaller one, since you have a small tank. The longer the rigid plastic part, the harder it will be to maintain flow in a 10 gallon aquarium.

To use it, you put it in the water & shake it up & down until water begins flowing. You then jam it all the way to the glass below the gravel. It will create a circular flow around the gravel. You will see crap come up from the gravel. Once the crap clears up, move to the next spot in the gravel & repeat.

You shouldn't change much more than 2-3 gallons at a time in a 10 gallon. Too much water change can kill off good bacteria. Be sure when you add the water back into the aquarium, that you dechlorinate it. In bigger tanks its not so big a deal, but in a 10g, its important to do this before adding the water, since chlorine can wipe out all the good critters in a small tank quickly.

As far as glass goes, get a mag-float small magnet. Don't waste your money on a cheap immitation or sponges on a stick. Its just like the sharp side of velcro stuck to a really strong lightweight magnet. You scrape algae off of the glass with it when it becomes unsightly.

Other than water changes & scraping the glass, you shouldn't be cleaning much else. No soap, no cleansers, no nothing except wiping the outside glass with a damp cloth. Change the filter cartridges at least every month, and don't rinse the sponges (or bio-wheels) for the filters unless they get completely clogged, which is rare unless you use mud as a substrate. You may rinse the filter cartridges every week if you want (in order to maintain flow rate), but the less tampering with the filter the better.

If you see algae accumulating on objects inside the tank, you may want to step up the water change schedule to once a week instead of once every other week. But as long as you aren't over-feeding your fish, once every other should be good.

Answer 3

I recommend 50% once a week. Use a gravel vac and syphon out the old water into a 5 gallon bucket. You should vacuum the gravel as you are doing this, which removes any muck from the gravel (old food, fish poo, etc.) Dump out that water and replace it with water from the tap that is about the same temperature, making sure you neutralize the tap water with a water conditioner such as Prime. Be careful when re-filling the tank that you fill it gently! If algae on the glass bothers you, you can use an algae scraper or algae magnet to take care of it. However, this is not a necessity. Do this every week and you will have happy, healthy fish!

Answer 4

Once a week remove 2-3 gallons of water by siphoning from the gravel and replace with fresh treated water of the same temperature . Clean the glass with a tank sponge or a magnetic sponge. It takes about 10 minutes a week. Also,use a power filter and a box filter and keep them clean. If you need to empty the tank and clean it, use baking soda and kosher salt with hot water, a few drops of bleach and paper towels. Rinse well before setting up the tank again.

Answer 5

depends on what type of fish you have, fresh or salt. how dirty are your fish? what type of filtration system do you have?
my general rule of thumb, 1/3 about every other week if its really dirty or only once a month if they are cleaner. a total break down annually.
add fresh water to the tank as needed between cleanings to keep the tank full and the filtration systems working properly.
i usually siphon water from the under gravel tubes, that way you get rid of the mess under the gravel a little better. this method is also best if you have live bearing fish w/babies! you won't loose so many babies!
i have had success with this method for 20 years with all types of fresh water fish.

Answer 6

About once a week orevery two weeks. Do not break it down fully cause it destroys the ecosystem of bacteria both good and bad. I recommend you get a aquarium vaccum you can get them at a petstore...have a ten gal bucket on hand and give the gravel a cleanign useign the vacum and replace the water. Don't forget to turn off the light, heater, and filter before starting this.

Answer 7

Every couple weeks do a 30% water change. How.....you can use a siphon w/tube for take out the poop and water. Get an algae scraper so that you can clean any algae off of the glass.

Answer 8

i take out any scenery and then empty as much water as possible, dump the rocks in a bucket (put holes in the bottom) and clean the tank with soap and an algea sponge. rinse the tank out, rinse and clean the rocks, clean the scenery. put the rocks and scenery back in and fill with fresh water.....water may b cloudy so u may want to run the filter for a lil bit....then put ur fish back in and ur good till next month..

Answer 9

you don't
get a good outside power filter.
change your water, ONLY ONCE A MONTH.(not all of it)
get a siphon- drain about 2 gals. from the BOTTOM 1/4 of your tank. and refill.
VERY IMPORTANT.. taking the water from the bottom will remove toxic ammonia-- it is heavier than water and sinks

Answer 10

once a week
.
put the fish in ziplock bags filled with water. and dump the whole tank and put new stuff in it.