Big Tank Cleanings?

[MeganL3985]

I know your not suppose to do a "deep" clean on your tanks and change your filters at the same time.....but does anyone ever take all of the stuff out of the tank and do a good cleaning on the inside?

I've been making it a habit every 6 months....to take everything out of the tank and do a full vac of the top of the sand, and scrub the plants and decor with a clean toothbrush. Ever since that brown algae started forming my tank looks like pure crap. So in order to keep up with everything i've been cleaning the tank top to bottom (leaving the filters alone).

Anyway.....just curious to see if anyone else does it and if so is there a reason behind it (ie algae or what not)?

[smaug]

Only if Im doing a complete redecor will I tear down a tank and do a complete cleaning.The few times I have done it I have lost a few fish .And it means going through another cycle even if it is just a mini.

[MandyL]

No I never have... I've never felt the need to. With proper algae eaters, plants, gravel vacs, and manual cleaning of the glass/decor/plants (while leaving in the tank) when needed, there really isn't anything left that is a problem. A tank several years old will just take care of itself a lot of the time.

[Wild Turkey]

Only if Im doing a complete redecor will I tear down a tank and do a complete cleaning.The few times I have done it I have lost a few fish .And it means going through another cycle even if it is just a mini.

same, i never clean out a tank unless something has gone seriously wrong, or im completely redecoring

[Goshawk]

Once a month I clean EVERYTHING. Flip my rocks, turn my sand, clean the plants, ect ect. I find my tank looks great for 3 weeks then starts taking a down turn then I know I need to clean it.

[Taurus]

I deep clean 1/3 of the gravel with the vac every couple of days with a water change only because I don't have real plants in my aquarium. Once a month I pull the plastic plants out and rinse them in a bucket of hot water right out of the tap. I must be doing something right because ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates always test very near 0. And I do have my aquarium water tested once per month at my lfs to confirm my own test results. My fish are healthy and happy.
I do change the filter fiber in my Whisper 30 once a month because I run it mostly as a water polisher. I rinse the sponges in both the Whisper and the Aquaclear 30 once per month. I use one sponge and lots of biomax in the Aquaclear and run it as my main biofilter.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I've only done it once as an extreme solution to a problem that had no other solution at all. I had something in the tank that required me to drain the tank completely, remove the substrate and throw it away, scrub the tank with a tank cleaning solution, then salt water, and finally a good FW rinse. All decor and equipment that was in tank got a bleach bath and all the plants got a bleach dip. As I said, it was an extreme solution that is very very rare in it's application.

[xoolooxunny]

I dont want to say "no dont need to", id rather say "no, never had to" meaning there could come the time . . .

probly bc i have a small bioload/small fish and lots of plants, so for the most part it stays pretty darn clean.

[Kuli_Loach]

I have before and I will if it needs it but usually I don't so I voted other.

[Lady Hobbs]

I take stuff out every couple of week. Food likes to get under those darned rock caves and lay there and rot.

[MeganL3985]

I take stuff out every couple of week. Food likes to get under those darned rock caves and lay there and rot.

I get that too, the water current pushes it under the logs, the bottom of the plants and rocks.

[jbeining75]

I voted no don't need to. Adaquate water changes and gravel vacing should keep the tank going good...

[cocoa_pleco]

i never do, i dont even do too many water changes. i do the odd water change on my 90g every few months, thats it. the only time ive had to do a emergency water change was when my baby pacu had a reaction to some shrimp pellets, and starting absolutely puking allover, i had massive ammonia from it. luckily my FX5 canister and a 20% WC took care of it

[sandy_n]

Can't answer yet, my tank hasn't been set up that long. :hmm3grin2orange:

[1MileCrash]

every few months i take the plants out so i can scrape the sides with a razor blade and so i can clean the gravel. i don't change my filter media though. i should as i haven't done it in a good while.

i don't know what the deal is but i have a constant algae problem.

[shalafi04]

i obviously do 100% waterchanges with a Deep Cleaning in all my betta tanks that are 5g and under. And with me Oscar tank every few days right now only because it's only a temporary holding for them so the size of the tank is not suitable for them at all. Otherwise no...

[Lady Hobbs]

Deep cleaning is the part that throws us off, I think. Deep cleaning, to me, is cleaning everything in the tank other than the filter. In my tank that has plastic plants, I remove them if I see algae on them and soak them in bleach water (maybe 3 times a yr.) Now and then I scrub the slime off my rocks. Now and then I scrub the wood. Every week I do my water changes and wipe the inside of the glass but to literally tear everything apart and clean everything at once?.......never.

To do a through gravel vac every couple of weeks, I remove the wood and rocks to get the gravel all vacuumed up but don't clean the other stuff until another time. My first post here might have been somewhat confusing in the way I stated it.