There's Cleaning, And There's Deep Cleaning

I have a 55 gallon breeder tank, its pretty deep. I have 6-7 fake plants around the back and sides. The center is a rock structure. The substrate is sand. I have 14 fish in there, the biggest is a 5" pleco the rest are pretty small.

I do a 15% water change every weekend, and I vac the sand. Typically I go through and grab all the surface gunk, then I go back through and dig around a bit.

The problem is that 60% of my aquarium bottom is covered and unreachable by the vac- the caves, around rock edges, and the corners where plants are.

How often should I be completely disassembling the tank to clean the sand better? I mean, we are talking taking out some sizable rocks, etc.

 

I wouldn't worry about the substrate underneath things. I would lift the caves every time as fish seem to enjoy to defecate where they sleep. I never put my vac into the substrate, but I have a planted one and I have no idea where the root tabs are. I got tired of accidentally hitting them and the cloud forming as I watch money going into the tube. If you really want your substrate cleaned get some snails. I wouldn't even think about it though, especially with sand. It keeps almost everything on the surface. As long as you don't have like 4 to 5 inches of sand anyway. Even then I wouldn't bother.

 

Never disassemble and clean unless you want to start over from scratch.

I've systems 5 years old that have barely been gravel vacuumed.

I also have had to take some down after a couple of years because the substrate became anoxic - I was overfeeding and not changing enough water out.

I'd do 25 - 50% weekly, were I you; 55 is pretty small and contaminants build up really quickly, especially without live plants.

 

I only have one or two inches of sand. I can't really keep snails because I have to puffers in the tank and they just beat him up until they die. I do have a separate tank filled with snails and shrimp for food though.

I guess the concern is that with the fish swimming around in the currents in the tank the poop seems to pile up in key areas which are usually the hard-to-reach areas. So in one of the corners where I can't reach you the vacuum there is a noticeable amount of debris even though the rest of the tank is clean because I can't reach back there.

Should I maybe just relay out my tank with that sort of reaching mind? I could position the Rocks forward a little bit more and give myself more room to work in the back corners of the tank...

 

I took the vacuum tube off one of my changers and am using the hose itself. It created more suction (which I was having an issue with on my python changer), but it also has the benefit of reaching into smaller areas.

 

What filter are you using? A 55 breeder is rather tall, if I recall. You may want to consider a larger filter, canister, etc. Or install circulation pumps.

In my opinion, if detritus can build up ANYWHERE in your tank, but especially in the corners, you've not got enough water movement.

Personally, for freshwater, I shoot for a minimum of 10x turnover through a filter every hour, with a turbulent flow in the display; my reef tanks get 20x and 40x, highly turbulent flow.

Nothing, ever, rests anywhere; all solids are suspended, skimmed and filtered.

 

You can use a turkey baster to "blow" the detrius out of the corners to clean.

 

I took the vacuum tube off one of my changers and am using the hose itself. It created more suction (which I was having an issue with on my python changer), but it also has the benefit of reaching into smaller areas.

I will try this, thanks!

You can use a turkey baster to "blow" the detrius out of the corners to clean.

Will try this also!

What filter are you using? A 55 breeder is rather tall, if I recall. You may want to consider a larger filter, canister, etc. Or install circulation pumps.

In my opinion, if detritus can build up ANYWHERE in your tank, but especially in the corners, you've not got enough water movement.

Personally, for freshwater, I shoot for a minimum of 10x turnover through a filter every hour, with a turbulent flow in the display; my reef tanks get 20x and 40x, highly turbulent flow.

Nothing, ever, rests anywhere; all solids are suspended, skimmed and filtered.

I have a SUNSUN HW-303B 4-STAGE EXTERNAL CANISTER FILTER 370GPH 9W UV STERILIZER W/ MEDIA. The build up occurs in areas where the flow stalls- for instance in between my drift wood and my rocks there is a calm area which doesn't get flow- stuff builds up there. In the corners they are protected by 2 or 3 fake plants, so the water doesn't flow all the way down. Maybe I just got a bad setup?

When I first installed it I took off the spray bar, but it made quite a current, and my fish looked like they were always swimming hard, even at night. I put on the spray bar and they seem much more relaxed swimming around.

I don't have a skimmer, FYI. The SunSun has one, but I don't think it does anything- or if it does I do not know how to use it.

Never disassemble and clean unless you want to start over from scratch.

I've systems 5 years old that have barely been gravel vacuumed.

I also have had to take some down after a couple of years because the substrate became anoxic - I was overfeeding and not changing enough water out.

I'd do 25 - 50% weekly, were I you; 55 is pretty small and contaminants build up really quickly, especially without live plants.

I consider a 55 gallon big, coming from a 10 gallon

I plan to add live plants, just haven't got them quite yet.

What do I do about what the fish do? They dug out huge swaths and pits down to the glass, and they made it look ugly. Also, they burrowed behind and under rocks which makes them hard to see.



Here it is BEFORE the puffers dug under everything. The waste buildup problems I have are in back left and right corners, which are packed in by rocks and then covered in fake plants.

 

You could always put live plants in the corners. The fish waste will eventually break down and the plants will absorb the nutrients and you won't have to clean as often.

 

I clean around my plants as best I can. Once ever few weeks I actually pick up the large stuff and vacuum under it. I read somewhere that you need to do that so now I do it. Have to admit, there is usually some pretty nasty stuff there though.

 

We have a tank with fake plants as well. It is nice to remove all the decorations once in a while and give a thorough vacuum where the decorations were sitting. Defintely some nasties hiding there! This tank is much smaller than yours, it’s 12 gallons, so it’s not too much work for me to do. Might be a bit more hassle with your tank, but I think it’d be worth it!