Habitat - Indoor :: cleaning the tank

[rockstar]

how do you guys do it?

i have to carry the tank set up into the kitchen and clean everything.

my mom said that when my uncle had his fish tank, when he cleaned it out he left about a third ofthe old water in it. so my mom thought that always giving him all new water might get him sick, or hurt him.


but if anybody has any easier ways of cleaning it all out, it would be awesome if you could give me some pointers=]


thankss!

[DavidY]

Your mom is right about the fish tank. If you change all of the water at once it will shock the fishes system cause it will be too sudden a change in water temperature as well as chemistry (pH, alkalinity, etc).

Turtles are tougher and not quite as sensitive as fish are, but you should make sure to use roughly the same temperature water to put back into the tank. Also are you carrying the tank with water in it?? I hope not. You don't have to scrub out the entire tank each time you do a water change. The algae and bacterial slime that grows on all the surfaces is not bad for the turtles. In fact they are beneficial in keeping the water cleaner by feeding on the waste that the turtles expel.

When I clean my turtle's tank I just use a siphon hose to vacuum all the dirt that settles on the bottom of the tank. I usually siphon out about 25% of the tank water and replace it with fresh room temperature water. The big thing is cleaning the filters. You want to rinse out the solid waste but you don't want to scrub everything bare since the bacteria that live in the filter are the beneficial kind. Also don't replace all of the filter components at the same time. Alternate which parts get changed, again so you don't wipe out the biological filtration.

[rockstar]

ohh okay.
and no.
i dont carry it out with the water.
but i dont have a siphon thing so i use a big cup and pour it into a bucket, then that water goes to the alley =p
so even though the algae on the fake plants looks kind of gross, its good? or no? the algae in the filter is good?

[DavidY]

The algae on the plants is good cause it feeds on the nutrients/waste in the water and oxygenates the water. Algae in the filter can become a problem if it starts to clog it up. But you want to make sure not to scrub or wash away all the bacteria that is growing in the filter.

[rockstar]

ohh okay.
thanks=]

[urbancleopatra]

what i typically do is syphen out bucketfulls of the tank and dump them making sure to leave about 4 inches of olda water in the tank. then when filling it up i just put in as many buckets i removed back in.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I have a 90-gallon size aquarium so carrying it into the kitchen is not an option

I have a python syphon tube (hooks up to the kitchen faucet & drains into the sink so I don't have to haul buckets). Once a month I drain the water 100% & change the filter media. Then refill (using python) with tap water & add some water conditioner to get rid of the chlorine. I never use any cleaning chemicals of any kind. Some people on the board use vinegar and that's ok to use for cleaning. Just rinse well!

[rockstar]

okay.
i just have to go get one of those.
wel at least before i get a bigger tank!
but thanks guys/girls!