The rocks at the bottom of my tanks have a yellow brownish color to them and look dirty. I syphoned out the rock the clean it but they still look dirty. SHould i take the rocks out of the tank and clean them??
2007-03-31 08:39:04 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
That will be fine to do. What you are seeing is algae. Algae comes in every color you can imagine and that's just one of them. I assume you mean a few large rocks, not the gravel. If you are refering to the gravel in your tank, don't take it out and wash it, that would actually do harm to your tank.
The algae is feeding off of nutrients in the water. Additional water changes will solve the problem. Change 30-40% or so once a week while cleaning the gravel for a few weeks then go back down to the normal 25% change each week. Given a little time this will eliminate the problem in the best and safest manner.
MM
2007-03-31 08:48:21 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Please don't take out and clean all of your gravel. If you do that, you will kill off at least half your nitrifying bacteria, cause your tank to go through a cycle, and seriously weaken or even kill your fish.
You could clean a handful or two at every water change.
You could stir it up to hide the dirty top gravel and get the cleaner looking stuff underneath up to the top.
If you're lightly stocked, you could scoop a couple of handfuls of the old stuff into nylon stockings, replace the gravel with something more natural colored that won't show that natural build-up, put the stockings in the tank for a few weeks to give the bacteria time to spread to the new stuff, and then remove them.
2007-04-01 01:39:02 · answer #2 · answered by ceci9293 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can take the rocks out and clean them with a new brush i.e. toothbrush or purchase a plectos and that will keep the tank nice and clean. They live on algae and will need algae wafers to eat as there is not always enough algae in the tank.
2007-03-31 15:57:41 · answer #3 · answered by lynne 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, indeed. Remove the rocks and scrub with an old tooth brush before placing back in. Also, use an under side filter for bottom of tank as well as one on the side. That worked for me. I called my fish Occupant and Resident so they could get mail. I have a very large tank.
2007-03-31 15:46:17 · answer #4 · answered by loiswillick 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
sounds like it may be an algae thing (although I can't know for sure without seeing them) do you have a good algae eater in your tank, or some of that chemical that gets rid of algae?
I would maybe remove and clean the top part of the rocks, leaving the bottom layer...or remove most of them (not all) and replace with new rock.
2007-03-31 15:46:27 · answer #5 · answered by spottedmyappy 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you were on the right track but you didn't do enough. syphon out all water,(once the fish are all out of course), take rocks out of tank, Put in a pasta drainer, run super hot water on them for about 5 min., put back in tank and the rocks should be fine.
2007-03-31 16:31:17 · answer #6 · answered by ~Oh Baby Your A Classic!~ 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
yup i beleive its algae change it before your water turns green
2007-03-31 21:33:15 · answer #7 · answered by suggie 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes, you should definitely b4 the fish/ whatever get sick
2007-03-31 15:46:51 · answer #8 · answered by shyansworld 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋