Hello:
How often should we clean the entire tank?? All the decorations, etc??

I used to do it every 4-6 months with mbuna. Take out all the rocks and do a 80% water change. I never scrubbed my rocks though, the fish liked the algae! If you do scrub your rocks and decorations make sure to do it in tank water or declorinated water as some of your decorations and rocks hold beneficial bacteria.

Never. Vacuum the substait every week, do a 30-40% water change every week and clean the front glass. Clean the filters once every month.

Works like a charm Good Job Good Job Good Job

I do the same as Klaus. Only difference is I clean the side glass as well as the front.

I too agree with Bunt.

The ONLY time I ever cleaned the whole tank is when I take them down for good.

ditto what apII and buntbarsch said, no reason to clean the whole tank. I don't clean rocks or decorations; if they have too much algae I got too much light or not enough algae eaters.

Yep, I agree with everyone on this!

I did take everything out once and paid for it with a case of bloat
for stressing out the fish too much!

Never will do that again!

Thanks, that is nice to know, I had my tank for over 3 years, and I do a water change every week, sometimes I skip a week, clean my filters every time I do a water change, add the salt and clean the glass. So I'm very happy Bouncy that I don't have to clean the entire tank. Thanks again

Just a word of caution, Chelsie...

It is not necessary to clean the filters every time you perform
a water change.

Most people clean their filters, especially HOB's, once a month.
Remember to stagger the cleanings between multiple filters in
order to avoid damage to your biological filtration.

In addition, most people clean their canister filters about every
2 to 3 months depending upon the fish and bioload.

Since I don't know your level of fish keeping experience, I hope
I'm not offending your sensibilities here.

If you already know this, then maybe someone else can benefit.

Good luck with your frontosas!

preacherboy: thanks, yes I clean the filter every week, but I will change that, from now on it's once per month, less work for me, more time enjoying the fish. Hi!

Very good Preacher. Good advice on the filter.

Chelsie,,,add salt everytime????? Whys that. Curious. (stress)

And does anybody else add salt????? (at all)
I never added salt UNLESS something was visably wrong.

How much of the water do you change?

i add salt sometimes.
its just so i they are more happy :)
happy fish = fry soon.

always keep that in mind people.

HAPPY FISH= FRY SOON. but.. gotta have both sexes :)
THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO FISH WITH THE SAME SEX.

I agree with everyone else. I dont clean the whole tank unless its being moved or broken down to store. As a matter of fact, when I have to remove rocks and other decorations while chasing fry or holding females, I use a big plastic tote with tank water in it to hold everything. I know...I know...but I am paranoid about doing any type of damage to the bio-filter in the tank. I figure that if I keep everything wet, I wont have too much of a die off of the bacteria. ANd I dont clean filters unless I see a noticable decrease in water flow. And I use tank water in a bucket for the cleaning. I use AC 110s on most of my tanks. I will rinse off the little bag with the ceramic rings, and then I squeeze out the sponge. I dont clean anything like you think of "cleaning". I just rinse them enough to return the water flow, and then put them back in the filter. And once again I try to keep the "dry" out time to a minimum. I do between 50 and 75 percent WCs weekly to bi-weekly.

AP, I dont think I have ever had to use salt in any on my tanks. First off, my tap water is so hard it takes a long time for it to dissolve. Second, I am very careful with what foods I feed what fish. I am not a big fan of mbuna, so feeding plant based foods to vegetarians has not been an issue. And I have never had a case of bloat in any of my tanks (KNOCK ON WOOD). I keep a box around for emergency purposes, but I would have to break it up to get it out of the carton. Giggly

Ap, to answer your question regarding salt:

Salt adds electrolytes, which reduce osmotic stress to the gills. This is especially important during disease, when the ability of the fish to maintain homeostasis with its surrounding water is disturbed.

Salt can aid in the production of the slime layer and speed up the healing of some wound sites. This occurs by hyperosmolarity... fish have a certain specific gravity (concentration of total dissolved solids) in their bodily fluids, and so does the surrounding water... if the surrounding water has a slightly higher concentration, the fluids from the wound site move into the water around it, and fresh plasma goes in to replace it, creating more blood flow in that area (makes it heal faster).

Many pathogens, such as Ichthyophthirius (the protozoan that causes "ick"), do not particularly like salt.

Ooooh I already get to use my favourite salt quote! the Clap

It's from Mary Bailey.

Very interesting Hmmmm

There are as many pros as their are cons for using or not using aquarium salt. I dont like to add anything to my water as a preventative measure- salt included

I use common non-iodized table salt when there is an illness as I will rarely use medications. This is an old school cure thats worked for me since the late 70's.

I have used epsom salts which can help fish such as frontosa which can develop a condition called float. (the fish gulps air and ingests it, the fish then floats at the surface unable to dive down in the water column for extended periods of time). Epsom salt acts a laxative to help the fish pass the air out through its digestive system.

I agree with the point that Mary makes, however given the extremely low cost to the consumer to actually purchase Aquarium salt, I doubt manufacturers and dealers have too much stock in net profits based on the sales of aquarium salt.

I've been adding salt to all my tanks evry water change for the past 3 years, never lost a fish yet. I do a weekly or bi weekly water change of 30%. It works for my fish, so why change anything. The fish seems to like it I don't know if it's the salt or the water change, but they seem more alive after I'm done.