Cleaning the Fish Tank Gravel....?

Question

Any tips on how to clean the coloured gravel in my tropical fish tank? When I clean it out the tank, I remove everything, but by the time I get to the gravel I'm exhausted!!!

Answer 1

CAREFUL!!! DON'T use washing up liquid, you'll kill the fish!! Gravel should not be removed to be cleaned, you simply use a gravel cleaner. As mentioned, these suck up the stones and gently clean them - you can even get one that collects all the crud in a bag and replaces the water.

If you clean to much you WILL remove all the good bacteria and disturb the cycling process - effectiviely you will be going through a permanant cycling of your tank!

I have had my tropicals in the tank for two years - I change 10% of my water (the larger the tank the less you can change) once a week, in between I clean HALF of the gravel one week and HALF the next week. You should clean front to back, not side to side, as to not stress out the fish and give them somewhere to go. You do not need to remove anything from the tank, except when absolutely necessary. You might like the look of a "clean tank" but sometimes it can be just "too" clean.

Just a quick note - when you rinse out your filter medium, do so in water removed form your tank. Otherwise you'll knock out the bacteria on there too.

If you need any more advise then give me a shout.

Lisa.

Answer 2

Do you have fish in your tank yet?? If you do, then you should NOT be taking out all the ornaments, plants etc. and cleaning them every time, as this removes all the good bacteria that has built up and is essential for the good health of your fish...!!

Just give the ornaments a clean now and again, using the tank water you take out when you do a water change...

Cleaning it all too much, especially if you use any cleaning products - will KILL your fish....
Also, if you do all this work each time you clean your tank, it must take quite a while, and all the time it is stressing your fish....

As for the gravel, buy a gravel vac - they do the work for you and while cleaning your gravel, they also take out the water for you, so you can then add clean, conditioned water to the tank....
The vac will suck up all the food, poo etc. that is in your gravel and that is the only type of cleaning gravel needs whilst it is in a tank full of fish....

Regular tank cleaning, with fish in the tank, should only take about half and hour...

Hope this helps

Answer 3

you shouldn't be cleaning gravel in a tropical fish tank at all. you should use a vacum tube which you can buy from most pet stores. cleaning the gravel removes healthy bacteria. all you need to do in a tropical aquarium is remove around 30%water each week and replace with fresh water make sure its the right temperature.

Answer 4

Use a gravel hose and the pipe into a bucket and when full put
the end into another.Or you can do the same and put your fish
in the bucket or bowl.Then put your fish tank in the
shower.If you do that put a couple of sponges under the corners
the weight rests on when you empty it.Switch on shower and
clean lifting to empty.The problem with this way is you clean the
bactreria away.So be sure you put the right amount of Safe Water in.To refill boil water and mix in beaker-jug with cold untill the heats ok.

Answer 5

The only way to correctly clean the gravel, is to put the gravel under a constantly running tap, until the water runs clear (stir the gravel from time to time). Use plastic buckets to scoop the gravel out of the tank, run the water over the gravel in the bucket, then tip it back in when finished. It may take a time, but when done correctly, the gravel will stay clean for a long time.

Answer 6

when i had my fish tank i used to get jug and lift as much of the gravel as i could at a time and run hot water over it pushing my hands through to get all the muck out then place in clean bowl and do rest ,i alps filled sink and ran lots of warm water through it so make sure it was clean rinse with cold water place back in tank and add fresh water then fish after water was back to right temp . Hope this helps as i know it can be a tiring job .

Answer 7

Hi there I am in the UK and i use a gravel vacuum cleaner they work great, but really you shouldnt clean your gravel too much as it contains good bacteria

You could try one of the many cleaning fluids to add to your filter

Answer 8

Buy yourself a cheap large plastic sieve. (Dont use the one which is already in the cupboard and hope no-one notices though) Wash the gravel in the sieve under running water. Failing that, If you can find a pair of thick tights, (preferably ones that are not being used) you can do same thing.
Oh yeah, dont forget to rinse the bath out when youve finished.

Answer 9

hi there,
i had this problem, by the time i got to cleaning the gravel i couldnt be bothered to do it any more lol
i got one ove those gravel hoses (not sure what the correct name is for them) you suck the water up and place it in the gravel and it teks the water out while cleaning the gravel at the same time. much more easier and quicker!

good luck (",)

Answer 10

Just half fill the tank with a hose and agitate the gravel, and syphon it back outside with a length of hose pipe.Dont knacker yourself with buckets, use a hose, cut enough off the end to reach from your tank to the door, fill the pipe with water, block both ends and submerse one end in the tank. Weight it in the water while you put the other end out the door. Your tank will empty 5 times faster!!!