Time

How often do I have to clean my fishtank. The pet store owner just said a 20% water change but how often. I am guessing everymonth is it correct?

Shawnie

everyone has their own schedule depending on the type of fish / size of tank etc......if this is for the 10 gal and its updated with the fish you have in there, id do 30% once a week....overstocked tanks need it and the smaller tanks can go off track very fast without even seeing the signs

Borisbbadd

I do a 20% water change weekly.

Time

Okay cool I thought it was once a month I'll proceed to cleening right now because my tank is almost 1 month old. Thanks for all the help. MY tank has a pleco I cant return. When do I clean the filter?

Shawnie

if you cant return for money back, im sure they will take him for free sometimes we have to do that with our fish babies to give them a better life

the filter media can be rinsed once a month in some tank water you remove to a bucket...dont use tap water and just swish it back and fourth a few times

Time

so true I will ask next time I go its a pleco in a 10 gallon and I saw how big they get. They only have small ones over there. I will try to replace it with a snail but how often do I clean the filter? I already cleaned it twice.

heather84

how long ago did u get the pleco? you could always try telling them that its acting funny and if you could exchange it for a diffrent type of fish. Or you can give it back to them for free they will take it.

Time

I am trying to trade for neon tetra or guppy I have had it for about a week. Just before I joined Fishlore.

fdo528

I would suggest changing at least 20% of water weekly. The cleaner the water, the happier the fish.

Jaysee

I change out 50% from each tank every week - more with my heavily stocked tanks. As a general rule, you can't change too much water, unless your tank water is different from your source.

One of the side benefits of changing that much water is it keeps algae growth in check.

As for cleaning - filters -> every 3 months Media -> mechanical once a month, chemical once a month (if you even use it), biological NEVER, unless you see there is a lot of debris which is mpeding the flow of water, in which case a few swirls in a bowl of OLD tank water is all that's ever needed Glass -> when it's dirty (I usually wait until I'm doing a water change so it is removed from the tank) Substrate -> with each water change

namehater

i do a 40% water change about every 10 days. i clean my filter media whenever i notice the water flow being slowed down, seems to be about once a month or so. usually at the same time i clean the filter i go ahead and break my filter all the way down and give it a good hot water rinsing.

also be sure to use a water conditioner when you make your water changes, something like a product called Prime

Jaysee

Don't forget to take care of your biological media while doing extended maintanance - put old tank water in a pitcher or something and put the media in it so that it doesn't dry out. Biowheels can be floated in the tank, or you can stick it in a cup of tank water.

aquarist48

Hello Folks. Try and remember to check the date of the original post. This one is a bit old.Closed thread. Too, there are several other threads pertaining to the same subject.
Thanks.
Ken