How do you keep tank cleaning to the max!

How do you keep tank cleaning to the max without disturbing/stressing caved plecs?

As I am sure everyone experiences the crud etc almost always gathers around items in the tank were it has somewhere to sit against mainly the plecs caves :wb:

I done a 50% water change tonight and I have lots of bogwood in my tanks and I often try to gravel vac as much of the tank as I can get to.

When moving bogwood (which provided cover) from above one of my l134's caves and gravel siphoning as close to the cave as possible the l134 seemed to get a bit agitated even though I was careful and did decide to exit the cave and dart to the other end of the tank.

Just wondering how this can be avoided as I have had exactly the same problems when using a sand substrate as whilst you can see the crud easily enough with a sandy bottom it still becomes sort of trapped right in next to the pleco caves.

Interesting to know how some of the successful breeders get on with this? and any regimes they may have for example careful substrate vac once a week or once every two weeks and just careful change over water on a day to two day basis?

Thanks

Oh tank cleaning is my ocd lol
I use a simple Biorb syphon with all the end attachments removed so its like a syphon stick that can get in between small gaps, around caves etc, in all the little nooks in bogwood they are fantastic and cheap enough to have one for each tank at home, I also wipe the inside glass down with a pan sponge after each water change - from Tesco 12p? a pack of six then just bin that after use, I do this everyday.

How to water change your tank the basics​

I use basic tank cleaning equipment for my water changes which can be found in aquatic shops and Tesco.
A syphon to remove debris, waste and water from the tank



This end of the syphon just pushes into a standard sized garden hose makes it easy for the waste to go straight down the nearest grid no heavy buckets to lift



A sponge to clean your tank glass a very important piece of equipment and cheap as chips 14p for 5 from Tesco




I start by removing all the bogwood from the tank placing it in a clean bucket.
I then remove the canister filter and place it in a jug of tank water to clean it later.



Whilst leaving all the fish and caves in the tank using the syphon I drain off 25% of the tank water this to me would be the weekly minimum amount of water to change



I syphon out all the fish waste getting in all the nooks and cranies where the waste collects




It is very important to wipe down & clean the tank glass not only to make your tank look nice and clean this is where bacteria growth is rapid these sponges are perfect so cheap they can just be binned when you have finished




I carefully replace the bogwood in the tank taking care not to squash the zebs or block any cave entrances



I refill the tank everyone will have their own method of doing this I fill directly from the HMA filter so no heavy lifting again!!



Whilst the tank fills I clean the filter.
The filter canister has been removed so that the sponges can be cleaned.




Clean the filter sponges by squeezing them out in used tank water, never rise them under a tap as this kills all the live bacteria



Now all the filter sponges have been cleaned and the tank has been refilled I place the filter back into the tank and check it is working correctly.



Back to normal until the next water change

^^ Very nice post, nice picture guide too

Great post and pics Jo,thank you for sharing with us :thumbup:

wow very interesting indeed. I have actually enough current, that my poo gathers at the front right side ofthe tank. makes it easier to collect. Mind you i have all my caves in a row in the middle and not everywhere around. I also use an old eheim external filter, no ceramics just cheap sponge and use this to syphon out the gunk and clear water returns to the tank. So i actually use the in pipe from this eheim spare filter to suck everything up like a hose. makes it easy. After I am finished, i throw away the cheap sponge and set aside again. cheers jk :thumbup:

jo,do u clean out ur filter every day?

Tener ds said:

jo,do u clean out ur filter every day?

Click to expand...

No no - just a quick syphon and glass clean, the pictures are from a big water change

I use a tube to syphon, maybe once a week, just from the areas where muck collects.
but i change a bucket of water every couple of days as well.
i dont wipe the glass at all, maybe i should? sometimes on some tanks that get sunshine part of the day they get too much algae growth and I remove this with a razor blade.
I have quite a lot of snails and I think they keep the bacteria off the glass, also young BNs good at glass cleaning.

In answer to the original question there isn't really a way around the poop getting stuck by the caves and wood unless you have great flow as already said and it collects elsewhere and is easy to get out. I often clatter and even move caves around getting the mess away and often there are males with eggs/fry in them but they are used to me now as i do it everyday

Never has a cleaning write up been so imformative and interesting to read, thanks Jo

Thanks jo and everyone for the info.

Jo do you remove the bogwood on each water change or once a week on the big water change

Thanks

I sypon round tank decor daily but just lift the wood out every couple of days you will be amazed how much gunk gets underneath

cleaning ??

I strip the tanks once every few months and shift the fry

Hi all,
This is a very good thread. You can see the success Jo has with her "OCD cleaning", by having tanks with very little permanent décor, and keeping the tank scrupulously clean, she can maintain very high water quality. This is the "aseptic" approach, and it is a viable option as long as you can maintain absolute cleanliness (so a bit like hospitals really, you have to keep up with the cleaning, and if you start employing Romanian contract cleaners to clean your tanks late at night, you are probably soon going to be in trouble).

Macvsog wrote:

I strip the tanks once every few months and shift the fry

Click to expand...

This is the other end of the spectrum, and if you've seen Bob's breeding threads, you can see that it is also a very successful approach. Although they look as though they have nothing in common, they do have one important factor in common, and that is both approaches allow the maintenance of very high water quality.

I've been to Bob's fish-house, and the things that immediately struck me were that he has an absolutely enormous amount of biological filtration, all the tanks contain some mulm and all the fish & fry looked very, very healthy.

I also use a similar "minimum intervention" approach, more details here: <http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5784>.

cheers Darrel

"OCD cleaning"
think i have this too,do both my tanks every day,clean glass every other day, filters once a week.
its paying of tho.the edge is algae free and the big tank is very nearly algae free.all plants in both tanks are looking very good and so are all fish and snails.
i like the "new look" of both of my tanks.

look agree with all. Stick to your routine, regular filter cleans and regular water changes and a good water flow with aeration. Poo will always be around, as long as thwe biological filtration is great, this should never be an issue if you stick to your routine. cheers jk :thumbup: