Perhaps you are a new aquarium owner wondering how on earth to clean your new tank? Or perhaps you are seeking to find out how to make your arduous tank cleaning regime a little easier?
With over 20 tanks that we regularly clean at Tails Pet Centre, we thought we'd share what we do. We use a Siphon like Aqua One's Vac-A-Tank or Fluval's Gravel Vac.
1) Turn off the filter
2) Remove the lid
3) Remove ornaments or plants
4) Clean the glass on the inside, with a magnetic cleaner or a cleaning sponge
5) Use the siphon to remove water whilst stirring up the gravel to remove gathered waste. Remove 25%-50% of the water.
6) Take the filter out and take apart to clean any sponges/bionoodles/biocarb sachets. Clean in the water removed from the tank. Put back together.
7) Clean any ornaments or plants also in the water removed
8) Clean tank lids with the same water too
9) Refill the tank with fresh water. In tropical/heated tanks, you may wish to consider adding heated water for fish health, or you can add cold water slowly
10) Replace ornaments and plants
11) Turn the filter back on again
12) Add a water conditioner like API Stress Coat
N.B. the fish remain in the tank at all times. Adding a product like Stress Coat reduces the stress from the cleaning experience, but the stress is far less if they remain in the tank than if you remove them!
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