cleaning help

mamie · 12-12-2006, 03:00 PM

ok I know this is going to sound "dense" but here it goes anyhow.I've had my tank going excellent now for over a month, fish are doing excellent. Last time I cleaned it, I didn't have fish now I have 8 what do I do with them while I clean my tank do I just take some of the water put in a "bowl" with the fish and clean. if so once I'm done that , I add water and then how long after do I put the fish back in???

yoshi191 · 12-12-2006, 04:07 PM

What are you trying to clean ?? fake plants and stuff or glass ?? You Would leave the fish in the tank they well move

mamie · 12-12-2006, 04:21 PM

I need to do a change of water you know the normal cleaning, vaccuming the bottom. won't the fish get sucked in the "vaccum"??

gm333 · 12-12-2006, 04:36 PM

Just keep the vaccum close to the subsrtate. My albino cories love to take rides up the tube, I make sure to keep one hand on the hose so I can close it off before they hit the top, most fish will just get out of the way. Dont take the fish out it is very stressful to do this, more so than cleaning the gravel. After a while the fish will get used to the tube.

mamie · 12-12-2006, 06:14 PM

ok it's just that I have some very small guppies they were sold to me as fancy guppies babies and just to find out they are the feeder ones. Anyhow I don't want them going there I'll never see them again.after the cleaning I should put some of that "chlorine" stuff I have it's called aqua plus??

gm333 · 12-12-2006, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamie

ok it's just that I have some very small guppies they were sold to me as fancy guppies babies and just to find out they are the feeder ones. Anyhow I don't want them going there I'll never see them again.after the cleaning I should put some of that "chlorine" stuff I have it's called aqua plus??

You need to add this to the water before putting it into the tank, to take care of the chlorine.

mike · 12-12-2006, 10:23 PM

mamie dont worry about the fish they wont get sucked up the force is not that great. ive been cleaning my tank for 16 years and never sucked up a fish only change out about 10 to 25 percent of your water

mamie · 12-13-2006, 12:14 PM

well the advice was great guys but the cleaning didn't go as planed. lol hubby is out of town till tomorrow and he "cleaned out" the closet where I put my pump.

now I don't know what he did with it. Knowing him, he put it in the garbage not knowing what it was. What a guy I'll be talking to him tonight and if it's still "alive" lol I'll be doing it tonight. Let me ask you guys another couple questions,when you do a change of water, what do you add the water with if you put the aqua plus in before, it sais to put so much for so much water well am I going with how much water I'm adding or how much water is in my tank when it's clean???

Also, my water evaporates lots like right now, it's only 2/3 full what would you guys suggest for that?

Tommy Gun · 12-13-2006, 06:42 PM

Just to make sure, and not to insult your intelligence, but you are using a siphon vaccum correct? (Not a wet/dry shopvac, and yes, I have heard of this being used sometimes) The power of a siphon is so low that it will take only water and the lightest stuff out of the tank. I also have fish who like to get into the vaccum, but mine cannot fit into the hose itself so I dont worry about it.

I always put the dechlor conditioner (aqua-plus) into the tank just before or after I fill the tank back up. My siphon attaches to the sink, so with a spin of a knob, I can go from vaccuming to filling. I keep an eye on the tank's thermometer to make sure that the water from the sink is not too hot or too cold and this has worked ok for me. I have never seen a problem in my fish yet.

The evaporation problem can be solved by adding tops to the tank. Are you using hood lights at all? There are also glass tops that can be added that will keep the water in the tank more so that by simply having an open tank top. You can also just 'top off' the tank as needed. This is what I do to avoid the noisy water fall sounds of my HOB filters, always adding the correct amount of dechlorinator with each top off.

mamie · 12-16-2006, 07:30 PM

lol haha that was funny no I'm not using a shop vac I use the normal aquarium vaccum. I do have a top and also yes I do have the lights. the lighs are on about 12 hours or so a day. Some people told me to put the aqua plus before putting the water in the tank. do I put for the amount I'm adding or the total of my tank???