good tips on cleaning fish tanks?
Posted on Sep 10, 2008 under fish tanks |Ive got a hexagonal fish tank and find it a pain to clean. Quite new to this so anyone got some great tips for effort/time saving?
Keeping the tank out of direct sunlight can dramatically stop you having to clean it as often !!! 
July 12th, 2007 at 3:52 am
Keeping the tank out of direct sunlight can dramatically stop you having to clean it as often !!!
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July 12th, 2007 at 3:52 am
Use a really good filter. Sure it'll cost a bit but it'll be worth every penny once you see the effects it has on your fish tank.
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My family owned about 6 fish
July 12th, 2007 at 3:55 am
Depending on the tank size, a plecostomus would really help out. Also, a school of corydoras would help.
I recommend having both.
Hey, it's what works for me. No matter what anyone says. If you don't have a pleco or any type of cleaner fish, then you are making things harder on yourself imo.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plecostomus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corydoras
July 12th, 2007 at 3:56 am
use screen wash to clean the outside its great
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July 12th, 2007 at 3:56 am
i've always used the phyon water changing hose. It makes cleaning fishtanks so much easier and it is faster to fill up. Great.
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July 12th, 2007 at 4:00 am
Use a good filter, and keep it out of direct sunlight to stop algae from growing all the time. You may also want to get a suckerfish to eat the algae on walls. Change the water every two weeks or every month, and you can get some scavenging creatures like glass shrimp to clean up the bottom a bit more.
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July 12th, 2007 at 4:14 am
Transfer any fish to another tank. Dislodge all plants and and empty out the water then scoop out as much grit as you can and rinse it completely in a bowl or bucket. With a planting stick that has a razor blade on the other end..scrape any algae from the sides. Clean out the tank with a hose pipe then put the clean grit back in and replace plants. Fill with water and heat to correct temprature and put fish back in.
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July 12th, 2007 at 4:25 am
It seems prevention is better than cure, I don't think there are any great saving tips. Apart from buying a syphon to empty the tank, and if your filling up by Jug placing a piece of paper on the top of the water before pouring will stop most of the dirt from being stirred up.
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July 12th, 2007 at 4:40 am
The best tip I can give you is to stay on tip of things. Do your maintenance once per week and the tank will stay healthy and clean. A bit of work regularly will save you a lot of work once in a while.
A gravel syphon is the easiest way - just syphon the water into a bucket and vacuum the gravel at the same time until you've emptied about 30% of the water.
With no live plants, just leave the fish lights off except when you are home to view the tank, since ambient room lighting is fine for the fish and it will prevent a lot of algae. If you get home after dark you can always get a cheap light timer to turn on just before so you don't spook the fish.
Don't overfeed the tank. This does have to do with cleaning because more food means more waste, and uneaten food means a filthy, cloudy tank. Fish are cold blooded, they don't need too much and don't need to be stuffed to the gills with food at every feeding.
Don't use chemicals that look like some sort of bottled miracle for your tank, they are too good to be true.
Tall and narrow tanks tend to be more of a pain then shorter and longer tanks, it's just the way it is. Also, don't stock by any " per gallon rules - since hex tanks are so tall and with a small surface area, the actual space for fish is less. Speaking of stocking, understocking keeps a tank cleaner then overstocking.
FYI algae eaters may clean some algae, but they're high waste fish and do not clean a tank and most certainly are not meant to replace aquarium maintenance.
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July 12th, 2007 at 5:01 am
i have an aquarium that i do not clean out, ever,
in the tank i have what is commonly known as algae eaters which do a good job but my best cleaning tool is the snails that i have in there, they eat all the crap on the bottom of the tank and from the glass sides however they DO NOT EAT PLANTS. i don't know what kind of snail they are but they came with the tank, they are very small and brown and look like gravel, they are also an excellent indication of water temperature change and oxygen levels, if the tank gets too warm or if there is not enough oxygen (filter needing cleaned) the little snails make their way to the top of the tank, as has been suggested already try to keep light to a minimum or even use a blue light in the tank, this can also enhance a lot of the fish colours, if water does need to be changed always keep as much of the original water as possible, aquariums build their own Eco system with bacteria essential to the fishes health and removing this water destroys the bacteria, remove only one tenth of the water at any given time, you can also buy a Little scraper from the pet shop that is magnetised so you can scrub the inside without having to put your hands in there, the debris that falls from the glass should be taken up into the pump in a few Min's if it is in good working order, golden apple snails are also a good way to keep it clean and look nice too
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July 12th, 2007 at 5:32 am
have you got a plecy? there'll eat most of the dirt and clean it up. Also, if the tank is in direct sunlight, then it will go green. If its a tropical fish tank then it shouldn't cleaning that often.
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July 12th, 2007 at 6:40 am
Hex tanks are a pain to clean.
1 - They make a magnet that has a scrubber on one side and a smooth pad on the exterior side of the dual magnet. Get a small one of these and use it to quickly clean the interior of your glass.
2 - Get a razor blade and put your clean hand/arm in the tank and scrape all of the glass.
3 - They have scouring pads made for aquariums though I find they are much more diffilcult than a razor blade or magnet.
All of these are helped with good regular maintenance making sure water changes are a key part to your maintenance, make sure you don't overfeed, don't have the lights on more than 14 hours a day or let direct sunlight hit the tank.
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Over 30 years experience and over 2,000 gallons of aquariums.
July 12th, 2007 at 8:00 am
DO NOT GET A Plecostomus! They get can get quite large (regardless of the size of the aquarium) and territorial, like mine right now. He/she chases the other fish and CAN kill them.
Get yourself an undergravel filter and a good outside filter. Keep it out of sunlight. Get a small snall if you are still experiencing problems. Also, you can get a scrubber (for only a few $) to help clean any algae you may have.
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July 12th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Like some of the people suggested plecos, snails, and even small fresh water shrimp will save you lots of time in cleaning the tank. I have had all of these marvelous cleaners in my tanks. The problem with shrimp is that some fish can eat them and also the snail can become a tasty meal for some fish. Plecos are excellent if you get the right species. Some plecos can grow to two feet long, this would be the brown common pleco. And some are more carnivorous. Bristle nose Plecos grow to only around four inches and are awesome cleaners and are very peaceful fish. I have never had to clean the walls of my aquarium, only vacuum the gravel and do partial water changes once a week. The razor blade thing can damage your glass/acrylic (can leave little scratches on you tank) I wouldn't recomend this.
Clean tank = Happy Fish!
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July 12th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
I'm going to assume you're doing freshwater and not saltwater.
First off, DON'T take everything out and clean it! That destroys beneficial bacteria that helps keep your system cycled. If you get rid of it, it will have to go through the process of building it back up again and you will have tank spikes and likely loose plenty of fish!
10-20% weekly water changes is a good start. You should get a strong filter, I usually recommend one for a tank at least one size up from the one it will go on- so 20 gallon filter on a 10 gallon tank, and so on. An algae eater will also help keep the algae down. Some can get quite large however, so I recommend using mystery or apple snails. They don't breed out of control, they won't compete with your other fish for food, and they are easy keepers. You should also keep your tank out of direct sunlight and moniter how long you leave the hood light on for. And lastly, a Python gravel vaccum will work wonders! You can use it to clean chunks of uneaten food and waste products from the tank while doing the water change at the same time.
Another tip is don't overcrowd your tank. The more fish and lifeforms you have, the more waste is produced. A strong filter will help with that, but the basic rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon of water. You can double that to two inches of fish per gallon for goldfish and salterwater tanks.
Don't overfeed. Watch how much they're eating when you feed them. Uneaten food leads to loss of water quality as well as adding to the waste in the tank.
Hope this helps!
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former Pet Care Manager, owner of two 10 gallon freshwaters, 30 gallon saltwater, 30 gallon freshwater, 100 gallon saltwater, and 10 gallon reserve saltwater
July 13th, 2007 at 12:12 am
The best method is having an excellent filtration. You can combine a power head that is mechanical with a biological way.
I have cascades and some fluval for my tanks that are big, I justcompensate the water a 10% each week. They are beautiful and healthy.
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July 13th, 2007 at 2:23 am
for a hexagonal tank, scrub the corners with a toothbrush, and use a siphon filter to vaccuum the gravel. and try an algae eater, like a plecostamus. also get a long handled scrubber to scrub the sides
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