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January 22nd, 2008
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Fish Bum
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Gravel... How to clean it?!?
How should I go about cleaning the gravel at the bottom of the tank? Without disturbing my fish? I've got a 2.5g. Should I put my fish in a seperate holding tank.. and just change the gravel out, or just clean it with soap and water? Thanks
-M&P- |
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January 22nd, 2008
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Fish Bum
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Do NOT use any kind of detergent. If it is up and running and you are just trying to get the gunk out of it? You need to go buy a gravel vacuum. Its a siphon. Just vacuum the gravel everytime you do a partial water change and you kill two birds with one stone. Meaning you clean your gravel plus you remove the water to do your partial. Its a win win situation. They are just a few dollars at the LFS.  |
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January 22nd, 2008
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Fish Mentor
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Hi m&p,
I have a 10g and use a siphon, my fish don't seem to mind.
Never use soap and water on your fish stuff, it will kill them.
Good luck.
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January 22nd, 2008
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Fish Bum
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanders_BALR
Do NOT use any kind of detergent. If it is up and running and you are just trying to get the gunk out of it? You need to go buy a gravel vacuum. Its a siphon. Just vacuum the gravel everytime you do a partial water change and you kill two birds with one stone. Meaning you clean your gravel plus you remove the water to do your partial. Its a win win situation. They are just a few dollars at the LFS. |
Yeah basically... I can just see where the old food is, its not really bad, but I just want mickey and pinky to be happy!!! 
Is there a certain brand or certain size siphon that I need?
thanks!
Last edited by m&p; January 22nd, 2008 at 10:47 AM.
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January 22nd, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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There are a number of brands, and they're all pretty much the same. You do want the smallest size you can find for a 2.5g, though, so you have time to do some cleaning while siphoning out the water, so look for a 'mini' or 'small' siphon.
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January 22nd, 2008
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Fish Bum
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oh ok thanks!!!!
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January 22nd, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Yea; too big of a hose and you'll finish sucking out the water long before you get a chance to clean any gravel.  |
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January 22nd, 2008
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Fish Bum
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i also had a little statue in the tank, and when i cleaned the water out it has bubbles all over it... should i put it back in the tank or get something else?
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January 25th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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It's probably fine -- when you add water back in, it's sometimes hyper-oxygenated, due to swirling around at the tap or in the pipes, or even from the water company. The extra oxygen will form bubbles on various items in the tank, but they'll dissipate rather quickly.
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January 25th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Yeah, bubbles drive me CRAZY but they do go away eventually. I usually stick my algae scrubber in there and swoosh away the bubbles. Only because they make me insane though. Saltwater tanks are the worst fro micro bubbles, let me tell ya. lol
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February 12th, 2008
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Fish Newbie
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I'm a total newbie and I'm having problems with my gravel vacuum. I bought a Marina Easy Clean self-starting vacuum and tried to use it on my 6 gallon aquarium. I got the siphon mechanism to work, but it sucked up water only. I kept moving the siphon up and down quickly trying to pick up the gravel (as illustrated in on the package) but the gravel didn't move up the tube very far and it ended up just making a mess of my aquarium. All the fish and food waste spread into the water instead of into my bucket. The quick rapid up and down movement really messed up my plants, spread waste around and was hard on my arm muscles.Frustrating! What did I do wrong? Is my vacuum too big? I got the medium version (15" tube). Please help!
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February 12th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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NEVER USE SOAP! You can use a siphon like they had said. I think that is your best bet.
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