how do u clean your tanks out (for tropical fish)

[teresawoolies]

Hi,
how do u lot clean out your tanks, can any one give me a step by step guide and also of how often they do it please,i like to see a clear tank but can never seem to get it, i even omited feeding to every other day to stop food not being eaten and getting left in the gravel, i have one of them pump things u can get where u pump in the water and all the muck goes up the pipe in to whatever vessel u put it in.
that seems to traumatic for fish cos obvioulsly u cant really move the fish out of the tank cos they would loose heat and in effect die,also im getting slightly what can only been described, as rust like substance on the inside glass of my tank, i did a partial water change recently but the next day it had come back in the same place, if u put one of those algae pad things in ( the magnetic ones) it does shift it,any ideas please help, thanks alot and happy fish keeping, ps can a small crab be kept in with tropical fish and can a small toad cos i worry they would escape.my friend kirsty has a albino toad and it never escapes but i like to think what if it did,you know just in case.

[Cottontail]

Firstly, the rust like substance is probably brown algae. How much and how often do you clean your tank at this point?

What sort of crab are you considering? It would need someway to get out of the water. As for toads...as far as I know, they're not entirely aquatic. Perhaps your friend has a dwarf african clawed frog?

[honeythorn]

One word..GRAMMAR! dear gods that hurt to read!!!

Okay. Heres what I do.

I use a gravel vac. It's a manual one, no electronics, I just put the tube in the tank and suck on the other end till the water starts coming through. Water goes in a black bucket that is used only for my tank. waste water is used to feed plants ( you should see my aloe vera!! :rolleyes: )

I swirl the tube around just above the surface of the substrate. I have sand so I cant just stick the tube in or I would lose it all. Since you have gravel, you can stick the tube in the gravel a little, and swirl it around. This will get the majority of the solid waste like poo and uneaten food to rise and get sucked away.

I can assure you that fish do get used to gravel/sand vacuuming. My weatherloaches actually get excited and get in the way!! the times they have almost been sucked up the tube..!!!!

After I have removed the solid waste, I simply hold the tube about 4 inches off the substrate and allow the water to be sucked out until I have removed about 20 - 30%.

I then take my bucket and add the required amount of dechlorinator, then fill with a mix of hot and cold water. I really blast the water into the bucket to mix the dechlorinator thouroughly, and also to dispell the chlorine gas from the water ( the more the water moves the better the chlorine is dispersed ).

I wait until the water is room temperature, and pour it carefully into the tank. I repeat this until the water level is 2 or so inches below the splash tray. You need air movement for better oxygen. Never fill the tank to the brim.

After 3 days or so, I usually test the water to check that all parameters are acceptable.

I don't feed my fish every single day. I feed them every 2 days. This ensures that all the food is eaten, and that they are actually hungry when I feed them. Not just eating for the sake of it. Feeding everyday is probably the cause of the brown algae. The best option is to get a magnetic scraper, and a handheld scraper too. Most algae is difficult to eradicate completley, it gets into nooks and crannies!!! You just have to keep an eye out for it and remove it as often as possible.

I have read that crabs and fish don't really mix that well. Smaller fish like tetras can often get eaten.

I also wouldn't mix amphibians and fish either. The clawed frogs would look and be so much better and happier in their own tank.