Best way to clean dirty tank

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ssjas

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 9, 2008
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Swan Hill, Australia
I visited my aunty last week and noticed that her fish tank was filthy. The gravel is full of gunk as are the fake plants, and the fish don't seem to want to move much.

I am going over again this weekend to clean it, but i am not sure if i should do a big gravel vac or will this just release alot of crap into the water? I am going to put a couple of real plants in also. The tank is a 1ft cube.

What would be the best way to tackle this?
 
This is what I would do: Take about 30% of the clean water from the tank and put it in a bucket. Then take the entire tank and gravel outside and wash the whole thing. When the tank and gravel are clean then pour the 30% old water back into the tank and add new water. If the gravel is that dirty and full of gunk then its better to wash the whole thing. If she has a filter then wash the sponges or filter pads in the old tank water to save some bacteria. HTH
 
I would put the fish in a bucket filled 50% with water from the tank and 50% tap water. Personally I use prime so I'd add some to the fish bucket just to be safe. Remove all décor and syphon the water out cleaing rock as well. When I overhauled my sisters tank I decided it's best to remove all water and replace with treated tap water. She wanted new gravel as well, if you choose to as well remove grAvel after water is emptied. Now that our tank is empty or partially empty you can begin adding water to the tank a bit and added the new rock then added plants and finished add decorations. Set up your filter and or pump. Next I got the temp. brought to ideal conditions, as well as added proper amount of water treatment. Next I added fish now that you are almost done install hood and or lighting because you don't want to risk an electrical injury. Lastly take a step back and enjoy the aquarium.
 
Do a 50% WC with as much of a gravel vac as possible. Try and get out a ton of the gunk. Try to follow up later with more WCs if possible.
 
Im wondering if a massive water change and syphon might startle the fish if they are not used to it. Just make sure to match temperatures well and do what you can to make it easy on the fish as they are most likely fragile. I am currently redoing all the fish tanks at a local merry hill school and I have to be careful with some of the tanks the fish are used to the filthiness. One tank had 2.0 ammonia and a ton of nitrite I was shocked to see the fish swimming happily and ofcourse overeating,
 
Well that was my concern, because i had heard of that. I think i will try and keep as much of the water as possible and just focus on the gravel for now, then do a WC in a few days. Thanks
 
I agree. Do a very intensive gravel vac and try to save as much water as possible. Then you can do a few smaller WCs every couple of days until the tank is under control. I would worry about shocking the fish if the tank is in that bad of shape.
 
If she's got a bath utilize it. Clean the bath to make sure it's fish safe and water chance the water out and the then fish into the bath. You can can then throughly clean the gravel by removing it and the tank without moving it. Any filter media keep in a bucket of old tank water to prevent bb dying out. Replace everything and mix new treated water 50-50 with the old tank water until about 60-70% filled and add the fish back.

It sounds from your OP that the fish aren't in to good condition, IMO the risk of moving them is worth it.

Good luck
 
I dunno bro this sounds like an OTS (old tank syndrome)bomb waiting to explode. I would do several small water changes instead of a larger one over a one week period. Stirring up flithy gravel can also become a problem. Good luck.
 
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