About the sponges: make sure to read the package of it. Some have soaps or chemicals in the sponges that arent safe for your fish. If you arent sure they will usually say "aquarium safe" on the back.
As a total newbie to the aquarium world, this is the most helpful video of em all. I really had no idea how to clean my tank without destroying everything lol. I feel stupid now
Nah a stupid person is someone who thi ks they know it all. Hope you enjoy the hobby. I have loved this hobby for over 40 years and still enjoy watching videos like this and I'm still learning
Just want to say, THANK YOU for the efficient editing, brisk pace and well-spoken commentary! So many videos are painful to watch because they're missing one or more of these factors.
When I was younger and less experienced, I forgot to turn off my heater before draning my tank. If you don't know, heaters without water cam overheat and explode. So, I had to buy a new heater.
yeah.... i was setting up a new tank and i was making sure the heater was working but forgot to unplug it. when i tried to put it into the tank.......let’s just say now i have some major burn scars on my hand
So so helpful! My husband and I just got two gold fish and we never had fish before in our lives and we needed to know how to clean the tank, thank you!
First of all, let me just say, I’m just a few minutes into your video but thank you for pointing out and addressing algae attacks because people like me who Manages everything in my home tend to neglect the fish tank a little too long and this is exactly the kind of cleaning that I am looking for, so thank you!
@@tropicalterrarium1742 I thought that as well until Bristle nose killed my favorite fish! Then I watched a video the guy said: Stop being lazy and clean your darn tank! Plecos are not glass cleaners! That's what I do clean it with a scrubbing wand with plastic ending. Algae are healthy for your fishes as long as it doesn't take over your tank.
Great video on a much neglected topic by others. Just a note, when using pot cleaning pads, it's best to rinse them under running water several times as these are treated with anti-fungal and insect repellents for long term storage. Un-rinsed pads can bring big disaster into the tank. Haha.....I loved it when you said "don't go to movie while your tank is being filled"....good one. 😂 BTW, love that periodic table chart at the background....gives a nerdy look 🤓
+Zak Rafik Thanks for the added sponge advice, ya you def dont want to leave the house while your water is changing....thats been learned the hard way hahahah
DIY AQUAPROS oh yeah one more thing, now that you do videos on a regular basis, why don't you have a quote at the beginning or end of your videos? Like what Dustin says "what up fish freaks" or the one I like most by Dave from ADU "keep your sleeves wet". This give a certain character and personality to the channel.....just my $0.02 worth. Give it a try! Or better still why don't you ask your subscribers give some suggestions. That'll be uber cool.
So much help! Thank you for this tutorial! I just planted (low tech, easy) my 1st tank a month ago. I really wondered about vacuuming and cleaning when the carpeting plants take over. Excellent video!
@@cluedobox2883 when you spray something that close to a tank its possible for it to get into the water (you know how the spray nozzle sends particles flying into the air) I have heard horror stories of this killing a whole aquarium of fish. i use a glass cleaner but I just spray it onto a cloth in on the other side of the room to avoid any problems :)
Im new to keeping fish. I wish i had found this video sooner. I was doing a complete substrate cleaning after my tank cycled. In doing so I killed my cycle. I also changed my filters to soon. Not knowing what a good and bad filter looks like is a killer. RU-vid videos are really hit and miss. Thanks for your video it was very easy to fallow.
I did exactly the same mistake a week ago... Vacuumed the entire substrate, cleaned the filter (even in old tank water), changed almost 30% of the water... A couple of hours later, boom, cloudy water (most probably bacterial bloom). The fishes were fine but the tank still clears out as we speak!
Have had aquariums on and off most of my life and usually decommissioned them due to letting maintenance get behind and ending up with a green monster. This all permanently changed when I decided to invest in an Eheim UV Steriliser. No more algae problems, crystal clear water and only need to do 20% water changeouts every two weeks.
I do water changes when my ammonia, and nitrites, nitrates register on my tests, which is roughly bi-weekly. For reason my 20 gallon that is slightly over stocked seems to do the best, I get almost a month. I have plants in all my tanks, they are all low level plants. I have all leaf types of Java ferns, java moss, a water Sprite, and some water wisteria. I buy gosht shrimp alot cuz they are cheap and they get to come to my house to be shrimp and not eaten unless one dies right off and I can get it I'll feed them to my simorum green spot Mushu, he loves them. For real bro, I'm so happy you decide to have a channel and help out other ppl. I'm new to planted tanks. I think my 20 does so we'll cuz it catches some sunlight, not alot to promote the growth algae, I also have a octo in there as well. I had two and didn't make it, the pet stores in my area are not the greatest. Infact I was charged full price for a betta with cloudy eye that wasn't being treated at all. His still holding on. I did a Melafix treatment for the full 7 days and he is still sick. I'm torn, I can't sit and watch him struggle so hard to get up to top water to breathe. I put a large plant in there and put him on top, he doesn't fight me or try to swim away, which tells me he is pretty much gone.
I have a heavily planted tank, it is a 90 gallon with a 35 gallon sump that is about two thirds full while running. I don't do water changes, I did regular water changes until I could get the tank well established once matured I stopped doing water changes. Water changes are counter productive for me, when you do water changes your throwing the baby out with the bath water. I only add water to replace the evaporation. I also never clean my tank, the tank takes care of that on it's own and yes the tank is pristine and the plants are thriving. The secret is to learn what it takes to truly balance an aquarium, a well balanced aquarium will almost take care of itself.
I feel very lucky I found your videos right away. I'm starting from scratch a couple new tanks in a few months. I've had tanks before but never live planted aquariums. I only wonder how to make my tanks thrive when I live in a very low lighted home. Im sure you have videos to help with this so I'm going to keep viewing and learn all I can.
Great tutorial! I found the video very informative! I change 50-60% of all my tanks water 1 a week. On my smaller heavily planted tanks, I change 40% of the water roughly every two weeks. Thanks for sharing!
The fish look nice, and the plants are super. I just wanted to point out something for beginners to understand. 1. I have smaller Acrylic tanks, the razor blade and Magna Float are too rough on Acrylic and will scratch the tanks. I just get the sponge and do elbow grease. 2. I do a weekly water change of 25%. 3. In some cities the use of Chloramine is much higher than other cities. I use similar chemicals that are used here. I use API Stress Coat, good stuff. 4. You need a new siphon man! LOL! 5. The tips on cleaning the aquarium plants was very informative for me. Good clip!
Ahhhh my tap water temperature in winter can reach 5 degree Celsius (or 41F) loool. Could easily make my aquarium temperature drop 10 degrees unless I make it supppperrrr slow (like 4 hours long) Life in Canada :O Nice video subscribed
i like the tip of putting some filter floss in the python hose while draing. I have been putting a net over the end of the python using an elastic band>
I change my water every Friday, but I test the water every other day so if theres any ammonia in the tank I change the water then as well. So water changes and vacuuming whenever nitrates are higher than 40 or if any amount of ammonia is showing, as well as every Friday on the tanks that didn't need cleaning throughout the week
thank you so much for this video i always had fake plants for years ... now i have a bigger tank i want plants .already bought plant lights .. so i will buying my first plant so i am beginner starting with low tech plants / beginner plant go from there i was not sure how to clean the the gravel/ sand with plants in it in .. you answered my questions..with my water changes with a larger tank i always ..put water in trash can and let it set a couple days with a small heater and seachem prime ..
I use Pothos in a 10 gallon and it is pretty heavily stocked. But I use a big 20 gallon hob and some java ferns, but I think what really keeps the water crystal clear is the Pothos. 6 neon tetras, 8 guppies ,a dwarf gourami, a khuli loach, and 2 shrimp. Nitrates are never above 10 ppm unless I go like 2 weeks without a water change which is good for plant growth. Planted tanks can really break the 1 inch of per fish rule.
Hello, starting once again my 100 gallon planted tank with organic soil and sand on top as my substrate for tropical fish. I have found a lot of information in this channel with great videos and how to do things. I am following you also in facebook.Thanks very much and best regards from Panama.
Awesome video! Can you think about doing a series for betta fish keepers? I'm a hobbyist in college so I'm now limited to betta fish until I'm done with schooling and can get back into my usual aquarium keeping like I used to.
You present some really good techniques here, like blocking your drain hose with filter pads. I am always getting snails stuck in my output hose. I'm actually very surprised you don't remove your fish during all this work on their home. I would think their gills get choked with floating debris. Apparently not, though. Thanks for sharing!
Almost nobody removes fish during water changes. He uses some good ways, but there r cases that things can be done a better way. (ex: dechlorinator must be added BEFORE adding water, in order to neutalise Cl, while water enters, in order to avoid any gill damage.) Read the comments.
Hey my man I love the hell out of your video you go through everything that a person need to know of cleaning a fish aquarium the proper way but you do do things a little different because that's what you want to do to your aquarium but other than that my man I love your videos keep up the good videos
Don't justify using cold water, lots of us do it, i do it all the time. I doubt everyone here is sitting there heating up 30+ gallons of water before refilling their tank. A lot of fish keepers just won't admit it lol
I heat my water up to the temp that was in the tank & I have a extra trash can JUST for that reason I have a 110 gal stock tank & 2-55 gal tanks & a 30 gal tank I keep all on a routine cleaning on the weekends after 12 am when everything is settled down where I don't get disturbed OR distracted from what I'm doing.
I use warm water from the tap mix it with the cold water and match it with the temperature of the tank condition it then use a bucket and mug to fill it up
Room temperature works best it doest stress out the fish. I take a homedepot bucket mix what I need and leave for 24hrs then add I have never had any problums and my ph is right on dot
@@JasonFolk07 depends on room temperature. also, in the summer my tap water is almost warm, but in winter is like ice... fortunately I have a fireplace in winter and warm the water over this... otherwise it would take forever, even when I put an aquarium heater in it and air stones
good video. I have pre-mixed water as I have many tanks. I use 100L drums which i keep the water in. each drum is done up to match the Parameters in each tank. I find that this way there is less stress on the fish as town water changes frequently.
Love your S.Repens carpet, they are so lush and well carpeted.. I usually go more than 3 weeks without a water change, I keep a very low bio load and a very high plant load which means Plants do most of the filtration in my tank, reason I go 3 weeks is partly because of laziness and other part is would like my tank to cope for atleast 3 weeks without a water change, because I usually take 3 weeks of vacation every year....
Handy video. I'm eventually going to have to try the fill-hose method, as I'm getting so sick of buckets. I'm surprised, though, that you can run cold tap water into the tank, even gradually, after a major change and not have any problems. How large a heater do you have on that? Oh, and to answer the question: I water change my planted tank 20% every other week and do filter maintenance once a month, unless it's needed sooner.
A great way to clean the outerglass without chemicals is to use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe of water spots, then dry with an ecloth. It leaves the glass streak free and clean.
Another idea for draining tank water is to put the exit end of the vacuum tube into a pool vacuum hose and run it straight outside. Very good nutrients for flower beds! To answer your question, I don't have a set schedule for water changes or filter cleaning. Usually never go more than a month with the tank. My canister filter gets cleaned maybe 3x a year. Works perfectly for my 75 gallon Tetra tank!
This video was awash with controversy. Dechlorinating water *as it enters the tank*, *putting the water in cold* then *letting the atmosphere regulate the temp instead of using the heater*, and on top of this *adding the second half of the dechlorinator when the aquarium is full of presumably half-unconditioned water and live fish*. Foo the Flowerhorn would have a half dozen simultaneous strokes if he saw this. I think you severely understated how hardy those fish are, doing this same method in my rainbowfish tank would be genocide, not to mention all the shrimp that would die from the unconditioned chlorates floating around. My hat goes off to you, sir, for not letting all the hyperscience aquarium nerds pressure you into changing your method because if it works in your experience then there’s really nothing wrong with it.
about the algae, i found another natural solution. get a algae eater or one of those catfish suckers.. they clean up sooo fast. i left my tank covered with algae initially, but after bringing home two chinese suckers, they cleaned up the tank really good with the few exceptional miss spots and light spots of algae..
You said that you use Windex after the cleaning of the tank, in order to clean the water stains on the exterior of the tank… I thought Windex was potentially harmful to the fish? Would it be more beneficial to use a water and vinegar mix instead? It’s been about eight years, since I was able to have a freshwater tank… And back then, I did use a 50-50 gravel sand mix with my plants. Are used very similar techniques that you’re using for cleaning your tanks.
Thanks for this video. I have eco-complete and I was a bit worried about the detritus. It's not much, a couple leaves here and there. But this helped me understand. Thanks!
Big thank you for this. Loved how you've made it look such a joy. Many fish tank articles try to make cleaning a boring ritual that must be done - for a newbie like myself, that appears as the uninteresting part. In reality, it is not -evidently. Favourited to rewatch later. >
lol all that algae is pretty much exactly why I reverted to a low tech setup. I don’t care if my plants grow slowly, because it means the algae grows slowly too
That was such a straight-talk step by step tutorial for a well planted tank clean up. At last! Been waiting for someone to do this. Thanks Mike. BTW, can you share what fish you have that can take such swings in temp., when you get a chance? That part surprised me. I want those fish! LOL
I like to clean my tank once every two weeks, I have two plans in my tank and I’ve noticed the two keep the water nice and clear and the fish seem to be happy, also my Ottos seem to love it they’re laying eggs about once or twice a week! if I should add more plants or if I should change up my cleaning routine please feel free to let me know!!
Hey dude I have a question. I'm brand new to the the panted tank thing and I went to the GCCA swap today and got some really nice plants but my question is I'm running a gravel substrate and I was wondering how often should I use root tabs? Love the channel and the way you explain things is awesome!! Keep up the great videos!!
I do cold water change too dont want to put hot water from a hot water tank. There's a lot of bad stuff at the bottom of a water heater like rust lead dirt and gunk. My fish love the cold water because they like to swim against the water. You don't worry about the PH with such a large water change. Thanks
AQUAPROS I have a question off topic. I have a 65 gallon tank it is tall and just have a carpet of glosso in it I am running a fluval 406 were is the best angle to place the output for circulation and I also have a hydor 425 were should I place that also? I really need help haven't had success on we're to place them so I get great circulation for the co2 to get to the glosso way on the bottom
Can you have a few gallons of warm water handy on the side to mix in with the cold tap water? Since the hose takes so long, keep boiling water to make it warm to mix?
I've been wanted a planted aquarium, you answered all my questions there. . . I've been using kitchen scrubbers to scrub my tank as well as the tank scrubber I have is old and wasn't getting up the algae. But I noticed I have some scratches on my tank now. Very upset about that. I didn't know if it was the kitchen scrubbers fault or not and I was going to quite using them.
1st.., thx for a very informative video without saying, what’s up man or hey RU-vidrs. I was looking for a video regarding cleaning a planted tank. I hv a few tanks but this week I will be buying a 10 or 15 gallon nano tank and trying for the first time, a planted tank with grass bottom and lots of plants. I wanted to know.., how people vacuum the bottom with grassy bottoms? Thx to your vid.., I now know. So thx again for you video without yelling or head banging music. You came across very knowledgeable and showed step by step. I will subscribe.
Thanks Mike amazing video I just got a 45 gal tank and I'm going to have live plants! also i gotta say that's a beautiful aquarium love the set up keep up the great work!
I top off as the splash gets too noisy every other week with my hob filters. I'll do a 30% change every couple of months or so. I've got eco-complete in my 38g, and gravel only in my 125g. Plants and fish are quite healthy in both tanks. I've got a little algae, but who doesn't... Works for me :)
I have a question that I've been wanting an answer for a very long time, What filter should I use and how what are the materials i need to put together a chemical filter? I dont know where to put the sponge things
Hi there and thank you about your reply in how to reduse water changes, my water is tab water GH about 8 and PH about 7.8 ,I have now plants . But I use some good water conditioner such as Aqua Safe and filter medium. 60 L that's coast lot in Europe every two weeks. By the way my aquarium is juwel and it do have very good cover . ? Also I use Tetra Easy balance which tetra claims that it can reduse amount of water changes ? So what do you think? Thanks
A high end substrate can reduce your PH, so can driftwood and Indian Almond leaves.. You'll want to get a PH test kit/strips so you can monitor if it's actually going down.
Nice topic, good effort , but when you started scrapping algae the tank had a messed up moment atleast for a 10mins , wont that cause health issue for fish , i had done same way of cleaning n lost few tetras , does this method cause stress for fishes ? Pls do help with your reply
I like to try my best to do a 25%-30% water change once a week on the same day. But life does happen and I end up more often then not doing a 50% when I notice my tank needs it. I have a lot of trouble trying to clean the top layer of gravel under stuff like my drift wood. It obviously needs it but my siphon is too big. I have a question degrading the dechlorinator, say you are doing a 25% change and you but the hose in, are you putting enough dechlorinator to make up for that new 25% or do you need to do it for the full tank? Also I was wondering about the filter. I heard that having it off for more then a hour kills any beneficial bacteria. sometimes cleaning takes more then a hour.
+Gabriel Q I dose the dechlor for the amount of gallons that have been replaced. It wont hurt to over do it though. Having your filter turned off for a few hours wont create any problems in your tank, if the filer runs dry and is off for a few days, then you could have a problem, hope this helps
I do a water change every week or week in a half because I have tanks that are less then 4 gallons which I have only two to three snails plus a small community of baby shrimp and I have a lot of live plants in which I usually do a 40% water change sometimes less depending on the waters appearance and smells but I’ve had my waters tested which I’ve been told that they were perfect
I got a tank what quite low the floor. I got use a pump on the end of syphon to do a water change. was wondering can recommend anything I can buy to clean my substrate?
I have a nano tank and have a dark brown film on the plants and filter. I have soil substrate and trying to figure out how to clean it. Any advice on what to do will be greatly appreciated
Every 7-10 days I've a 94 gallon tank. The more your hands are in the tank the more you put things like soap from you hands in the fish environment. How many people run their hand, arms and under a water tap for a while before working on their tank to wash off soap, sweat etc. I try to not disturb the aquarium as little as possible. I have a heavily planted aquarium, I don't clean up the fish poo it's fertiliser for plants. Do what works for your 🐟 🐠 🐡 This man has good some ideas .
one thing worth noting is that utility blades... specifically the ones you're using, have oils that are applied to them before shipping so that they don't stick together in the package. So make sure to clean the Razer blade off.
@@MermaidSa91 They mainly clean the tank from food and organisms (of plant and animal origin) that r about to die. They usually don't eat plants (unless they starve), but there r snail species that always eat healthy plants. These should be avoided.
very nice video, sir I am in India, in our area TDS level is too much, I am using borewell water, I CAN NOT install the RO water equipment at my home, is there any other remedy by which I can reduce the TDS level - TIA
My sunsun decided to leak after about 4 years. Had to completely drain and move my 75 to prevent mold. Ruined a section of laminate flooring too! Nice filter while it lasted though!
wow I used your tips am I going it wrong I clean filter every two weeks can I leave it longer I have the same filter as you. tank is much cleaner now as I have a planted tank..now I've just watched u fill then add water safe into tank...I've been doing it first before I add to tank... am I safe to put hose in fill then add tap safe like u did. would u mind if I get a reply from you
