cleaning tank decor

[acocacolagirl]

Wow! Thanks for that info!! I had a feeling there had to be a better way to deal with filters and that the company that makes mine was just trying to make more money buy selling me "disposible" filters! I am so glad I have access to the compined knowledge of everyone on this site!!

 

[thebirdman]

Depends on what you have, and what you're cleaning off it. Fake plants can be removed, scrubbed, or soaked in a mild bleach solution or oxyclean. Rinse well (especially if using bleach), dry completely, and return to the tank. Silk plants shouldn't be bleached but an oxyclean solution will work fine. Rocks and such can be scrubbed clean and returned to the tank, ditto for wood--but wood will often break down a bit if treated roughly.

But--what are you cleaning off? A little bit of algae is usually no big deal, but a lot of algae indicates other issues that need to be addressed--cleaning it off the decorations will be a temporary solution at best.

Oxyclean great idea..................

 

[Penfan66]

I change out 10 - 25 % a week. Gravel clean a couple of times a month. Change the filter once a month. Check ph/nitrite/nitrate/amonia levels regularly. And well, as I have only had the tank two months, I havent gotten into much more of a routine yet. I don't know what the silicate level is in my water. I dont even know what silicate is . I will give the plants a good cleaning and see if that helps the problem. As for live plants...good gracious! I am already feeling overwhelmed with fish mantinance...but maybe when I get more comfortable with the fish, I can think about plants .

Thanks to both of you for the advice.

You may want to clean the gravel a little more often as well. This will help reduce the nutients that the algae is feeding on.

:thm:

 

[Peanutsweet]

Ok let me get this straight. I have a filter box style that hangs on the outside of my tank. It has two cartridges of charcoal with a scratchy umm plastic, like a scratch pad sort of stuff ( I hope that makes sense) that the charcoal is in. Then I have a 'bio wheel' thingy in front of that. Once a month I lift the cartridges out, throw them away, rinse the box and use a soft long brush to scrub the goo out of the suction wand that goes into the tank water siphoning it out into the box. Then I put in new filter pads. I never do anything with the bio wheel.
Am I messing up my water cycle by replacing my filter pads? They always look so brown gunky and nasty when I do it. Doesn't the charcoal absorb toxins in the water and it would need replacing?
I agree with the previous poster that they are expensive. I have one of these filters on each end of my tank and each holds two pads. So that is 4 pads once a month!!
I also do a 30% water change when I change out the pads, and I use a gravel vacuum to stir up the gravel for that. Maybe I am cleaning my tank too much? Is that possible?