Should you ever completely break down your tank?

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

Should you ever completely break down your tank?

by Zambize4899

I've read some differing opinions about whether or not you should periodically break down your tank for a thorough cleaning. Some say yes, some no, some maybe, and if you should, no one seems to agree on the frequency. Do you think you should? How often? And what is meant by "a thorough cleaning"?

Thanks all,
Zambize


Sumthing_Fishy
 
Posts: 193
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:47 am

by Sumthing_Fishy

I had to strip down by 10 and 30 gallon tanks because of a snail that hitch-hiked in a plant that I bought from Wal-mart. I couldn't seem to get rid of them and they steadily infested the whole tank. I had to totally take everything out and scrub off they eggs, the filters and hand pick each snail out of the gravel and then wiped off the inside glass and undergravel filter plates and put everything back. After placing everything back in the aquarium and filling it up with water, water treatment, fish, etc., the tank had to recycle itself, but was fine after a few days and no more snails.

Just to clean it and straighten it out like you are talking about, I would just rinse with water and not scrub everything totally clean.


Ryule1105
 
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 8:14 pm

by Ryule1105

Heck, I only suggest completely ripping a tank apart when something really bad happens like a crazy ass disease, or you get a crazy, unexplained spike in ammonia that water changes aren't fixing. Ripping a tank apart ruins the bacteria build up, stresses your fish and does crazy damage to your plants if you have them. Weekly glass scrubs and gravel siphons will keep everything pretty darn clean. Having an excellent clean up crew in your tank helps a lot. A healthy and variety team of catfish works great for this.

Snails are a problem that many people consider tank rip apart worthy. I personally just crush all the snails I see with my finger. Your fish will love the protein rich slug once the shell is broken. It prevents having to rip apart the tank and gives a source of good food. Of course... getting a loach can keep snail populations under control as well.

Essentially, you should never NEED to rip a tank apart to clean unless you planned poorly or had something really bad happen to the tank. I have only had this happen once in my time of owning tanks.


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

by Zambize4899

Now that I think about it, I did have to break down and sanitize a mere 6.6 gallon tank because I suspected a possible communicable disease. It was a pain. I don't ever want to do that again, and certainly not on a big tank. I had just heard that some people break down their tanks once or twice a year just to clean it. That doesn't make sense though because it would affect the bacteria. I suppose it's no, don't do that. Good...

Z


gumbii
 
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am

by gumbii

what i do every couple of months is take out all of the rock/decor... and give it a really good vacuum but just the gravel... sometimes i take out 80% of the water or more... of course the fish aren't in the tank at the time...


i don't clean out the filters when i do that... it will end up spiking the cycle... i wait a week then give the filters a good scrubbing with soap... all of my filters have biowheels so i don't touch they...

but the rocks and decor i don't scrub... so i don't really break down the tank, but i do give it a good cleaning... sometimes i will replace the substrate... but it's cool 'cause i use gravel from the gravel pits and stuff from construction...


spongebob4460
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:37 am

by spongebob4460

I read someone's advice in their profile on this site when i first found the site: I try to put my hands in the tank no more than once a week.

I have since used that advice and its golden. Unless something is going severly wrong, u'd be amazed at how well the tank maintains itself (assuming you keep your equipment and filters in top shape)... i clean the acrylic and vacumm roughly once a week... and it stays as clean and healthy as my pic shows.


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

by Zambize4899

Sponge, I read the same advice about putting your arm in the tank. I'm new but it sounded good. I try to keep to that. My tanks are new so I'm still trying to get some things sorted out and situated, but I'm close to the once per week rule. Sage advice...

Z


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

I really can't think of a good reason to break down a tank completely. It seems more a matter of just how much you want to risk, and usually for matters in personal preference, a change of mind in aesthetics, etc. No matter how you slice it you're going to have to recycle the tank with your fish, unless you displace them to another cycled tank. Granted the cycle will probably be shorter than the initial but completely breaking the tank down well..that's making it about as lengthy as you can.

When I realized my 16 gallon was infested with snails right after diving into the -planted- tank hobby, I simply searched out a reasonably priced natural solution: A seperate tank large enough to support a Dwarf Puffer.

I think gumbii hit a real good point. Every month or couple months its good to remove most of the removable decor and give a good vacuum over the whole surface of the tank. I usually do this when I have to trim plants. If I tried to trim my giant centerpiece of driftwood with java moss attatched in my tank It would look like fall just hit in Maine with all the clippings floating to the tank floor.

Should you ever completely break down your tank?

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