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Mondays I do the water changes on my two display tanks. One tank is 75gl home to my Mixed African Cichlid community and the other is my 55gl home to my Juveniles all mixed African Cichlids as well.
I began with the bigger tank. Sometimes it's hard to do because the tank looks pristine and beautiful and you may wonder why mess with it when it's looking so good. See that's the thing, looks can be deceiving. The tank may be beautiful on the first impression or to the naked eye but that beautiful clear water could be a death trap for your fish if you don't do regular weekly water changes. Cichlids are fairly large aquarium fish and in turn have a good size out put of waste. That waste can produce deadly levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. If allowed to build up you will be devastated with a great loss of fish. And if you are anything like me - your Cichlids are your babies.
To begin I remove my light bar, and the lids. Then I attach my Python siphon hose to my tank, run the 25 feet of hose into my kitchen sink and get the suction going. As the water begins to drain I start the filling my first pail. The Python is rigged so it simply attaches to your tap and you don't need to use buckets. Unfortunately my facet isn't compatible so I have to get an adapter and I just haven't gotten around to it yet. The way my house is set up I don't mind. I don't have far to carry the pails. As each pail fills I carry it
to my tank area and set it aside. Mean while as my water level drops I begin my cleaning. I clean my filters every other water change alternating them. When I say "clean" I'm only referring to removing the filter from the back compartment of my HOB's and rinsing them. I never replace them with new filters at the same time and I usually rinse them a time or two before I do replace them. Removing the HOB and deep cleaning it, I do about once a month. Sometimes I let them go a little longer.
The water is now down to about 50%. My pails are usually filled by this time as well. At this point I get my scrubbie and clean the glass on the inside of the tank. Nothing is worse than taking pictures through dirty glass. After that I get out my vacuum and clean up the debris sitting on top of the sand. The vacuum I like is a 1" - 10' hose with a 12" piece of hanger inserted in the sucking end. This gives the hose some stability and it's easy to be very accurate in what I pick up. I do pick up some sand and just rinse it and return it to the tank.
Finally I start refilling the tank. I add Prime to one of the buckets. As I pour a pail of new water I add a pitcher of the Prime water to the tank. Once the cleaning and filling are complete I do the clean up, wiping down my lids, light bar and outer glass.
The process sounds like a big job and time consuming but it's pretty simple. I can have my 75gl tank done in an hour easily. I turn on the tunes and get at it. I repeat the process doing my 55gl tank in the same way. Once it's done it's fun to watch the Cichlids. You can see how they like the fresh water. Following a good water change they are frisky and playful.
When you have a routine, the supplies and everything you need ready it makes the work easier. Organization goes a long way.
I began with the bigger tank. Sometimes it's hard to do because the tank looks pristine and beautiful and you may wonder why mess with it when it's looking so good. See that's the thing, looks can be deceiving. The tank may be beautiful on the first impression or to the naked eye but that beautiful clear water could be a death trap for your fish if you don't do regular weekly water changes. Cichlids are fairly large aquarium fish and in turn have a good size out put of waste. That waste can produce deadly levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. If allowed to build up you will be devastated with a great loss of fish. And if you are anything like me - your Cichlids are your babies.
To begin I remove my light bar, and the lids. Then I attach my Python siphon hose to my tank, run the 25 feet of hose into my kitchen sink and get the suction going. As the water begins to drain I start the filling my first pail. The Python is rigged so it simply attaches to your tap and you don't need to use buckets. Unfortunately my facet isn't compatible so I have to get an adapter and I just haven't gotten around to it yet. The way my house is set up I don't mind. I don't have far to carry the pails. As each pail fills I carry itto my tank area and set it aside. Mean while as my water level drops I begin my cleaning. I clean my filters every other water change alternating them. When I say "clean" I'm only referring to removing the filter from the back compartment of my HOB's and rinsing them. I never replace them with new filters at the same time and I usually rinse them a time or two before I do replace them. Removing the HOB and deep cleaning it, I do about once a month. Sometimes I let them go a little longer.
The water is now down to about 50%. My pails are usually filled by this time as well. At this point I get my scrubbie and clean the glass on the inside of the tank. Nothing is worse than taking pictures through dirty glass. After that I get out my vacuum and clean up the debris sitting on top of the sand. The vacuum I like is a 1" - 10' hose with a 12" piece of hanger inserted in the sucking end. This gives the hose some stability and it's easy to be very accurate in what I pick up. I do pick up some sand and just rinse it and return it to the tank.
Finally I start refilling the tank. I add Prime to one of the buckets. As I pour a pail of new water I add a pitcher of the Prime water to the tank. Once the cleaning and filling are complete I do the clean up, wiping down my lids, light bar and outer glass.
The process sounds like a big job and time consuming but it's pretty simple. I can have my 75gl tank done in an hour easily. I turn on the tunes and get at it. I repeat the process doing my 55gl tank in the same way. Once it's done it's fun to watch the Cichlids. You can see how they like the fresh water. Following a good water change they are frisky and playful.When you have a routine, the supplies and everything you need ready it makes the work easier. Organization goes a long way.
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