Well I have both light and dark blue gravel in my tank, for some reason all the light blue gravel is starting to collect algae. I don't want to wash all the gravel, because I don't want to kill the bacteria I have built up.
Would it be safe to just take some of the gravel out, just the top level to clean it? What works best to kill the alage (what can I wash the gravel with)?
2007-05-09 12:47:46 · 5 answers · asked by mr5oh 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
First try a gravel vacuum. A gravel vacuum will suck out all of the stuff in the rocks. If it is actually growing on the rocks, You might try boiling the algae covered rocks. (If you did this, you wouldn't have to do all of your rocks at once, preserving your bacteria)
NEVER use cleaning products for cleaning anything in your fish tank, unless you bought it at a pet store and it says specifically "for aquariums", because even if you rinse the gravel off, it is nearly impossible to get all of the chemicals off of it, and if they are still on it, they will leach into your tank. And we know that's bad :)
Hope that helps a little.
2007-05-09 13:21:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good answers, but the algae that I guess you are talking about is encrusted in the porous gravel and it does change the color. The best thing is to take all the gravel and chlorine it. Yeah it will kill your bacteria but if you have a good filter it should be able to recoup nicely. The tank should be able to handle it. Now to be safe, purchase some bacteria from the petstore to help things along.
2007-05-09 14:19:41 · answer #2 · answered by Jose R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try to use a gravel cleaner. They sell them at Wal-Mart and they are very easy to use. The first time I used one I was amazed at how well they worked. Or you could save some of the water out of the tank and just rinse the gravel off. DO NOT put any cleaning agents on them. You can also get chemicals for your tank to help get rid of algae. Good luck!
2007-05-09 12:57:29 · answer #3 · answered by LuvinLife 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree, use a gravel vacuum first. Also increase the size of your weekly water changes and turn the lights off a hour or two earlier, both of those will go a long way to reducing the algae.
MM
2007-05-09 13:50:59 · answer #4 · answered by magicman116 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get a siphon, they are referred to as gravel cleaners and one that is very stable is bought under the call of python. you hook it as much as the sink and turn the water on, to create suction and it cleans your gravel.
2016-12-11 05:05:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋