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my tank read 25 mg/l on nitrates yesterday. the tank is also really dirty and the gravel is really dirty with algae and dirt.

i could take everything out and clean the gravel really good but i dont want to take out the fish. when i do add any live plants, would it cure this problem??? by eating the dirt in gravel and using it for food???

are there any secrets to getting it to be cleaner??? if i were to do a 50% water change every saturday for like 2 months would that help clean it out better???

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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Water changes and be sure to vacum the gravel to get the mulm out. Are you over feeding or is the tank too close to sunlight? That could cause algae to grow.

well the algae problem is not that much of a problem because i have already dealt with it. i think that the gravel is just covered with dirt that sits on the top. when i syphon the gravel and it is turned about then it looks clean and the colors are the bright green, blue and pink. but before i clean it the tank just looks dull and dirty.

would plants help keep the gravel cleaner???

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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The gravel cleaning every week will help,never go more than fifty percent. No, the plants will not help to keep the substrate cleaner...they will probably leave more debris. They eat the nutrients more on a microscopic level, nothing that you could see. Once the tank is noticeably cleaner, clean only every other week. Be careful not to feed the fishes too much, this can also contribute to the dirty tank. And never take the fishes out as this would be very stressful on them!

Last edited by Hooben at 11-Sep-2005 10:33

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The calming qualities of a good aquarium are irrefutable

well one of the problems could have been overfeeding since we went out of town on September 2-5 and had some friends watch the fish.

i think i will set out cups for each day we are gone with the right amount of food next time.

but i think i will do 30%-40% water changes every week for a while until it starts to look cleaner.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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kj fishy-finn,

The others gave you good advice already on how to correct your problems.

I am worried that you will fall back into "old" habbits once your tank is clean again.

You will have to keep with frequent water changes and all other entities (like not overfeeding) in order to maintain your tank.

How did you tank get into the shape that it is now?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

like i said the overfeeding was due to being out of town and having people watch the tank who are not fish people. but i am not sure why it got so bad. i think the problem may be that i had a fish die and it got eaten and i couldnt find the body, so there must still be some decaying.

i think it may have to be also that i was not letting my nitrate test sit long enough(it says 10 min) and i was like letting it sit 8. so i am not sure.

but weekly water changes should do it of 30%-40%???

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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An idea for getting some of the silt/gunk out of the gravel without your fish going into shock from too much water changed is to do the below

RECIPE FOR CLEANING GRAVEL


Ingredients

2 x buckets
1 x gravel vac
u will also need patience and a gentle touch for tipping

Method
*take bucket 1 and vaccum your gravel
*set the bucket to one side so the silt settles on the bottom of the bucket
*take bucket 2 and vaccum your gravel
*set the bucket to one side to settle

*go back to bucket one and carefully pour the water back into the tank but not the bottom 2 inches. That way you are putting back the conditioned tank water and throwing away the silty/dirty section

*do the same for bucket 2 that has been settling while you empty bucket one.
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Keep going like this and you will be removing the silt while preserving the water for the health of your fish.

(you can do this with one bucket but it will involve more time while you wait for the silt to settle at the bottom of the bucket)

[font color="#C00000"] Good luck [/font]getting the gravel clean. Stay on top of it once it is nice and dirt free. [font color="#008000"]Tanks are easier to KEEP clean than to GET clean [/font]; rats I knew there was a catch to this aquarium caper!

Good luck friend!!!


Last edited by wish-ga at 11-Sep-2005 22:37

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

are there any secrets to getting it to be cleaner???

Hard for us to tell unless we know the usual routine for care/feeding/cleaning as well as an idea of the stock. some fish are messier than other.

But I hope our heads up is a start /:'

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

while we're on the cleaning subject,

whats the best way to clean sand? without sucking it all out?

*Chelle*
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I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

Not sure on the sand.

However.

You dont really need to have people feed your tank if your only away for a few days, 1 good feeding before you leave and you should be able to be away for a week or so without have anyone feed the tank.

Matt

i find the easiest way to clean my gravel is the python. works like nothing else. since going to that over my normal vac my amm. problems dissappeared.

"whats the best way to clean sand? without sucking it all out? "



the best way to clean sand is to use a smaller diameter tube. You can take the large head off a python and use the 1/2 tubing. Just vaccum the top of the sand with out actually touching the sand. Expect to suck up a little sand at first. You'll get better with practice.

Clean the Gravel with a siphon &amp; do some water changes.

To clean the Sand, use the same siphon that you use for the Gravel &amp; keep it 1 inch from the Sand &amp; the dirt will be sucked up &amp; the Sand left in the tank.



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