How often do you do a full cleaning/breakdown of your tanks?
- Thread starter ECW
- Start date
Never.
I got back into the hobby about 7 year ago, and I've never felt a need/desire to break down a tank.
I use pool filter sand on all tanks, run multiple pumps on all tanks, and do wc every 3-4 days. I find that with using pool filter sand as a substrate, I often don't even need to vacuum the bottom of the tank. Everything sits right on top of the substrate, and then the fish tends to stir things off the bottom where it then gets sucked up by the filters.
I got back into the hobby about 7 year ago, and I've never felt a need/desire to break down a tank.
I use pool filter sand on all tanks, run multiple pumps on all tanks, and do wc every 3-4 days. I find that with using pool filter sand as a substrate, I often don't even need to vacuum the bottom of the tank. Everything sits right on top of the substrate, and then the fish tends to stir things off the bottom where it then gets sucked up by the filters.
I agree with the above, everything that needs doing to the tank is done in my normal schedule.
Breaking down the whole tank in one go could lead to a loss of bio, or a large realise of contaminates making it more risky.
Breaking down the whole tank in one go could lead to a loss of bio, or a large realise of contaminates making it more risky.
Yeah, agree. Your regular maintainance schedule should cater for everything your set up requires to keep it healthy.
The only unregular thing I do is a twice yearly pump clean where I take it out and clean the impeller etc with an old toothbrush.
The title of this thread sort of takes me back to when I was a kid when my dad used to break the goldfish tank down every couple of weeks and virtually make it sterile. Looking back I shudder, how those fish lived is totally beyond me.
The only unregular thing I do is a twice yearly pump clean where I take it out and clean the impeller etc with an old toothbrush.
The title of this thread sort of takes me back to when I was a kid when my dad used to break the goldfish tank down every couple of weeks and virtually make it sterile. Looking back I shudder, how those fish lived is totally beyond me.
I’ve been outta the fish game for a bit. Left it to my dad. I’m always busy these days. I wish I took pics of the tanks and the crud in the filters that I dealt with on my “vacation week”. All the fish were still healthy but damn... It was nasty. Black, brown, and green algae... The sludge in the filters... Now the tank sparkles. Like new. And the fish are as happy as they could be... If I kept up with it? I still would probably every once a year, do a full spring cleaning. Clean all the filters fully, scrub the tanks of algae, and do a drain while filling to flush it all (for the big tanks). I have one tank left and I’m converting it to bare, no substrate... Easier in the long run.
The system was still healthy. But who doesn’t like a nice fully clean tank?
The system was still healthy. But who doesn’t like a nice fully clean tank?
Lol. Ain’t that extreme. I live in Hawaii. The tap water here is amazing. If I had the time to break down the tank every couple of weeks? The fish would thank me for it.
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You can still have a lovely looking clean tank, even with minimal maintainance, no need to do a blitz. If you keep up with your regular maintainance and find what works for you then that will keep your system well and truly in the safe zone. Start doing anything drastic and it could slip your system out of the safe zone and into one that causes you problems.
I do 50-60% water changes weekly, i do this maintenance with everything running, takes about 15 minutes. My filter socks have been going around two weeks before i change them out.
but once every 2-3 months i will cut off all the equipment and drain the tank and sump to fin level, scrape the tank walls, clean out the overflows, pump fittings, check all the plumbing thoroughly.
but once every 2-3 months i will cut off all the equipment and drain the tank and sump to fin level, scrape the tank walls, clean out the overflows, pump fittings, check all the plumbing thoroughly.