What's the different between Cleaning a fish tanks and Doing a water change?

Question

I only had my fish for 5 days now which one should I do this weekend?

Answer 1

Did you cycle your tank before you added the fish? Do you have goldfish?

Cycled Tank

If you cycled your tank first and do NOT have goldfish, then you should do a 10% - 15% water change. Siphon the appropriate amount of water out of your tank and replace it with water of matching temperature. If you are using tap water, then you must treat the water with a conditioner to neutralize chlorine and any chloramine in the tap water.

If you cycled your tank first and DO have goldfish, then you should do a 20% - 25% water change. Follow the same instructions as previously stated.

Also, if your tank is cycled, vacuum the substrate/gravel lightly each week. With goldfish, you will need to be a bit more aggressive with vacuuming as there will be an abundance of "crap" and debris in your gravel.


Tank not cycled before adding fish

If you did not cycle your tank, you need to be testing your water for ammonia and nitrite. If you don't have the test kits, take a sample of tank water to your local fish shop and they will do the tests for you. While your there, pick up kits for testing ammonia, nitrite, nitrates and pH. If you can't afford all at once, at least get the ammonia and nitrite kits. You'll need to use these 2-3 times each week as your tank cycles. Ammonia and nitrite need to be 0ppm. Any time your readings exceed this, you should perform a partial water change (no more than 20% at a time) to dilute the toxins in the tank. Its common to lose fish kept in a tank being cycled. This is referred to as "New Tank Syndrome". If you keep a very close eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels as your tank cycles, you will stand a fair chance of having your fish survive. Most tanks being cycled with fish take up to 8 weeks for the process to complete (sometimes longer). If you have goldfish, I strongly recommend testing your water for ammonia and nitrite every other day, but absolutely not less than every 2 days.

Cleaning a tank can mean several things. Vacuuming, filter rinsing, decor cleaning and algae scraping are all part of "cleaning". You should generally vacuum any gravel lightly once each week. Scraping algae and cleaning decorations are generally done on an "as needed" basis. Cleaning the filter is something to do with care. Visually inspect any filter media each week. If it appears dirty, take out some tank water and rinse it. I suggest doing this in the water you are removing during your routine water changes. It's generally recommended to replace you filter material quarterly or bi-annually. Take care to NEVER replace it all at the same time or you will seriously damage your biological filtration. With some fish (goldfish) you may find it necessary to replace your filter more frequently.

Here is a link to a site providing some very useful tank maintenance information: http://www.firsttankguide.net/

Good Luck

Answer 2

You didn't mention what type of fish you had. IF you have a Betta, you will have to do a water change weekly and clean the tank.

On the other hand, if you have a tank with gravel and a filter and heater, etc., you will need to do tank "maintenance" on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Cleaning and water changes actually are supposed to work hand in hand and at the same time. However, the BEST way for you to understand (in my opinion) is to check out this website which explains the hows and why's of tank maintenance. It is thorough and up to date and will help you understand WHY you are doing what you are doing, not just giving you a quick run-down like these answers do. I also always suggest to people that they research their questions prior to taking any info. from here. Allow these answers to give you a general idea and then do your research to make sure what you are going to attempt to do is not something that is going to kill your fish, if that makes sense. This website will show you the correct way, and this is just one article on the site. The whole site is full of up to date, trustworthy information: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_cleaning.html This site is owned by a Top Contributor here by the name of Carl S.

I hope this helps. Good luck!!! ;o)

Answer 3

cleaning a fish tank..is when you vacuum the rocks out and for me i washed the decorations as well in clear water in the sink..you take all the water out of the tank and wipe down the walls of the tank...its just as though you were starting over with the water set up and getting the chemicals back in there..a water change is when you take a quarter of it out..and replace it and treat the water...you arent really cleaning anything else in your tank..you clean the tank only under the most extreme cases when you still have fish in it..because its hard on the fish...you move them to another container and after you get the tank cleaned you move them back..best to avoid that if possible

edit : you shouldnt do either one..you have only had the fish in the tank for five days..you need to wait at least three weeks to a month and a half before you even think about replacing some of the water..you need to let your tank set itself up as far as bacteria etc...you have a filter in there for a reason...

Answer 4

Cleaning the fish tank is vacuuming the gravel and cleaning all the stuff in the tank as well as a water change. Just a water change is taking out 50 to 75 percent of the water and then refilling it. Cleaning the tank should be done once a month or if it gets dirty quick every two weeks. Water changes can be done anytime but it will disrupt the slime and bacteria and levels of the water so do not do often. Check your levels often, they will even do these now at the pet stores.

Answer 5

Well, cleaning a fish tank would be completely cleaning everything out I guess. Which would remove beneficial bacteria which would cause the tank to cycle again. A water change is just changing a small percentage of water, to balance out ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and ph.

Answer 6

NEVER take all of the water out of a tank and "clean" it. This destroys the bacteria colonies the keep your fish alive. You must do more research,first learn about "cycling" your tank.
The answer to your question would require two or three chapters of a sizable book to answer correctly. Also the information is available on the web. Start by learning about the bacteria,look up "fishless cycling"

Answer 7

I don't see a difference. I call them both. You shouldn't "clean" a fish tank unless it has some kind of massive problem. You always just do a water change once a week of 25% whether you call it "cleaning the tank" or "doing a water change".

Answer 8

If you do not already have a gravel siphon and a water testing kit, please get them ASAP. The gravel needs to be siphoned clean at least once a week and ditto those weekly water changes. New tanks should be tested daily for at least a month in case the ammonia goes wild.