how do I keep my fish tank as clean as those in pet shops without cleaning it every week?

Question

I got a 50 gal tank and 5 gold fish, I have to clean it every week, the filter is set up for a 75 gal yet within a week the tank gets dirty and cloudy. The water clear tablets don't work. how do petco do it?

Answer 1

Basically you don't. I own a shop and I can tell you we clean tanks more than once a week. Plus, every time people buy fish, it's water out of the tank and that amounts to a water change for almost every tank every day. Many of the large stores like PetSmart do constant water changes, several gallons per hour 24/7. To keep a tank clean, you must clean the tank, that's all there is to it.

MM

Answer 2

First, you aren't technically overstocked unless your goldfish are 4 inches or more. If they are, you do need a bigger tank. Second, I'm not sure what gph your filter is exactly, but if you say it is for a 75 gallon and the general recommendation for filters for most aquarium fish is 4 times the gallons per hour as the size of the tank, then you would have a 300 gph filter. Goldfish filtration is different, however. For goldfish, you need 10 times the gph per hour as the size of the tank, or a 500 gph filter, so if you have less than an 500 gph filter and with 5 goldies in a 50 gallon, you need a bigger filter. Next, while you do need to clean an aquarium every week, sorry, that's just the standard maintenance requirements, it is possible that you are cleaning it too well and forcing the water to have to recycle after every cleaning, possibly the cause of the cloudiness. All you need to do is remove about 35-40% (a little higher for goldies) of the water, siphon the substrate, rinse the filter in the water removed from the tank and only lightly clean decorations with your hands or a soft cloth, sponge or brush. Scrubbing down everything squeaky clean removes all of the beneficial bacteria that helps to balance the water. If you think you may be cleaning too well, do some reading on cleaning and tank maintenance.

Answer 3

Essentially, you can't. The "big name" stores like Petco use connected tanks with an automatic water replacement system (about 2 gallons per hour on a 180-300 gallon unit) with a UV sterilizer, biowheel (about 6-8 inch diameter and about 18 inch length), and an overflow to a sump through a carbon filter and a filter pad (the system used is generally a commercial display unit by Marineland: http://www.marineland.com/products/prod_commercial.asp ) and they still need to scrape algae and clean the glass a few times a week.

With all that, if they still need to clean the tanks, there's not much you can do to get away from doing the same (but wouldn't it be nice!).


NOTE: You don't say how long this tank's been set up - is it possible you're still cycling? http://www.fishlore.com/CloudyWater.htm

Answer 4

you dont the reason the tanks look nice in the pet shops is because they clean it so often. the other reason is in stores like petco most of the tanks are linked together so it is like one giant tank with dividers. larger source of water mean the less dirty it will get over a short span of time. You also have very dirty fish. goldfish have a huge bioload and thats the main reason your tank gets dirty so fast. If you didnt want to deal with the maintenence of keeping the tank then maybe keeping fish isnt a hobby for you.

Addition: adding a sucker fish will not really help your situation. they also have a large bioload and your tank is more than fully stocked with fish. So a pleco will most likely add to your problem. Adding snails would be the best bet over adding a pleco. The key to keeping a tank clean is to clean it. No magic fixes no magic tablets.

Answer 5

Remove a few goldies or get a canister filter than does up to a 75 or 80 gallons

Answer 6

Snails help keep the glass clean. Make sure you do not have any sea shells in the tank. It will cause cloudiness and poison the fish.

Answer 7

First off, your tank is overstocked. The water you see in store units is just the tip of the iceberg... behind the display is several hundred more gallons.
This is probably the system you see.
http://www.marineland.com/products/prod_comm_retail.asp
They are most likely doing water changes every few days...

Answer 8

Filters(not the undergravel kind), bottom feeders like the sucker fish (they feed off of the sides of the tanks as well) chlorine remover, and don't over feed. I have to change mine every 6-8 weeks.

Answer 9

Do you have an algae eater in your tank they are really good about keeping the glass clean. They don't need any extra food because the other fish create it for him.

Answer 10

Try getting two sucky fish and two shark fish that resemble small catfish.I still have to change my filter weekly,but the tank stays much cleaner.