FAQs on Cleaning Freshwater Systems Related Articles: Freshwater Algae & Control, Tips for Beginners, pH, alkalinity, acidity, Treating Tap Water, Freshwater Aquarium Water Quality,  Related FAQs: Freshwater Maintenance 1, Freshwater Maintenance 2, Freshwater Aquarium Water Quality, Treating Tap Water for Aquarium Use, pH, Alkalinity, Acidity, Freshwater Algae Control, Algae Control, Foods, Feeding, Aquatic Nutrition, Disease,  Using live plants can greatly reduce maintenance. Red Foxtail, Myriophyllum.

Any suggestions? Bleach residue on polyethylene plants   2/19/09
I read your article Cleaning Aquarium Decor on the WetWebMedia site.
Unfortunately, I put my plastic plants in the bleach water and had to take my son to the E.R. Needless to say, they were in there for about 4 hours.
I have rinsed them several times (more that 3) and they still have a faint, funky chlorine odor. Should I throw them out and start again?
<Nah... can be fixed...>
I had a well planted 55 gallon tank so it's a lot of plants. I have dechlorinator for when I do water changes (25% every week) but not sure if that is strong enough.
<In sufficient dose it will be... along with air drying for a day after soaking>
I feel kinda sick over the whole thing. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help. I am going back to rinse them again.
Deb in Colorado
<Good. Please read here Deb: http://wetwebmedia.com/clncarta.htm
Bob Fenner>
Dear Bob -
Thanks for the quick response and the link!
Deb in Colorado
<Welcome my friend. BobF>

Crust, tank cleaning, FW in this case   12/16/08 Hi there, I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank that has two Priscilla Tetras, two Neon Tetras, and a Pleco. My tank has continuously formed some sort of crust on the rim of the tank, the glass, all fixtures, and the wall behind the tank. Some of the crust can flake off but some bonds to the surface areas. Do you know what this crust is and, if so, how to get rid of it? Thanks! John <John, this is nothing more than lime, i.e., minerals such as calcium carbonate. It gets left behind as water evaporates. When you see large amounts like this it usually means there's a lot of splashing, for example from an airstone. Repositioning the airstone, filter or whatever to water splashes into the tank and not onto dry surfaces will help. In any event, it implies your water has at least some hardness content. Lime is best removed with a mild, non-toxic acid next time you clean the tank and have the fish waiting in a covered bucket. Lemon juice or vinegar should both work fine. Dab the acid onto a cloth, and wipe. Repeat as required. A scouring cloth or pad may help. Give the aquarium a good rinse to remove any traces of acid and any flakes of lime. By the way, your tetras need some friends! Groups of six for both species, please! Cheers, Neale.>

29 G BioCube... FW stkg.    6/23/08
Hello, I had a 29 gallon BioCube with a small yellow tang.
<... needs more room than this>
After awhile I realised I didn't like saltwater as much as fresh so I decided to convert, after draining the tank and taking everything out and giving the tang to a petstore I cleaned it with biodegrable soap and such.
<Mmmm>
that day though the tank started to smell so I filled it up with water and put vinegar into it.
<... CH3COOH... an organic acid... food>
after a few days of running a white fuzzy mold started to grow. I really want to put stuff in this tank but I think this tank isnt ready. any tips on how to make it ready?
<Dump and really clean it, start again. Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwclngtkfaqs.htm>
PS can a BGK fish go with a Senegal Bichir? thanks for your time
<Neither in this sized/volume system. Bob Fenner>

How to clean a very dirty 120 gallon without filling it.  3/12/08
Hello,
First of all, i love the site. Very valuable information available. Anyways, i just have one quick question. Recently, i was given a 120 gallon tank. My friend had given it to me as he was moving. So, he had it filled with only about 40 gallons of water, and had three different types of frogs, turtles, newts, some kind of fish, and crazy amounts of plants. Long story short, he didn't really clean it before giving it to me. (filter and all) I really want to start a new African Cichlid tank in it and i would love to thoroughly clean it. Any suggestions? He said i might be better off using his substrate, and keeping the filter dirty for cycling purposes. It doesn't seem rational to me. There is a lot of algae built up on the sides, and i would like to scrub it before adding water. Not really sure how to go about this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. You guys rock. Thanks for your time. =)Sincerely, Jasin
<Cleaning a used tank isn't terribly difficult, but the most important things are these: [a] Don't use water so hot it will crack that glass. Trust me, I've done this! [b] If you use anything toxic, like washing-up liquid, rinse thoroughly. Better yet, use something non-toxic or easily degradable. Vinegar or lemon juice, for example, work well for removing limescale, and hydrogen peroxide is good for sanitising things. Whether or not you re-use the substrate is a matter of personal preference. The risk of diseases surviving a wash in hot, soapy water are low, and if you let the substrate air dry for a day or two before use, that helps even more. Realistically, it's your new livestock that are more likely to bring in diseases. On the other hand, if the gravel is so mucky that cleaning it would take a long time, through it into the garden (good for soil drainage!) and buy some more. If you're after Rift Valley cichlids for example, then coral sand would be appropriate, and for that to work best as a buffer it needs to be clean and fresh. Cheers, Neale.>

Minerals, cleaning from a glass tank   2/22/08
I was wondering what the easiest way to remove the white minerals that accumulate on my fish tank by my filter and also in back?
Thanks,
Brandon
<A cloth dipped in hot water should do the trick. If the minerals are really thick, dabbing with vinegar or lemon juice can be used, but try not to get too much in the aquarium. In the long term: figure out why water is drying out on this bits. Usually the white stuff (lime) appears where there is splashing or dribbling; the bits immersed in water should be lime-free. Cheers, Neale.>

Vinegar + Water + Oxygen =??? FW microbial culture   11/07/07
Hi;
I bought a 70 gallon tank a while ago, used. Scrubbed all the hard stains off it with white vinegar, then did my best to rinse it out with water. Must not have done a good enough job.
<Mmm... doubtful... Vinegar, the simplest organic acid... Acetic, solubilizes, rinses freely with water>
I filled the tank half full with water, ended up letting it sit because I realized I didn't know how to use the oldest looking Fluval canister filter I've ever seen in my life (had a leak too, so I bought a new 305). Well some white slimy growth started appearing free floating in my water. Rather puzzling since none of my Internet searches gave me much of anything other than fungus that grows on fish and food, neither of which are in my tank. I took out 90% of the water, replaced it, still had this stuff in there. So I hooked up two filters and let them have at it. Couple of days and hardly anything was left in the water. Did a chemical check, things looked fine (aside from horrendously hard water and a pH of 8.x.... tap water) Got a little curious, put my flying fox in there (all prepared
to take him out if things looked funny) to my surprise he nibbled on a bit of the white stuff, thought about it, then raced around gobbling up as much of it as he could find. Nothing was left in the span of 20 minutes. He had no change in behaviour after that. color was fine, alert and happy my RB shark wasn't chasing him. Couple of days went by, he still looked good. Eating, swimming, and staking out territory (which was quickly lost to the RB shark later)
So that was that. I never learned what it was, but I guess it tasted awfully good.
<Seems so>
Now, recently, I've been playing with vinegar again in a small 5 gallon tank with a DIY sponge filter and peat moss bag. 6 tablespoons of white vinegar to 5 gallons water, let sit for two days, then feel the thick slime on the walls. Kinda "ew". I still want to know what this stuff is. pH is sitting around 6.8 . I don't know if its the same since its not free floating. Nor do I want to test it with any of my fish. Wonder if it will grow on an agar solution (got some laying around).
<Interesting speculation...>
I did manage to come across something called "Mother of vinegar". appearance isn't the same, but its a Bacteria that turns alcohol into vinegar and is supposedly harmless if eaten. (can think of a few people I might want to do that to) however it doesn't "look" quite the same.
Well that's about all I can think of.
Side note; the tank has been up and running for 1.5 months, everyone is healthy and happy, in crystal clear "tea" colored waters (from the peat moss which has boosted my plant growth by double!). Bottled water (pre aged with peat, etc) will be added gradually to lower ph in the near future. Also hoping that my tetras will stop flirting and finally produce something before the males get a complex.
Thank you for your time!
Cera
<CH3COOH is a good feeder stock in some situations... for decomposers... likely bacteria and/or fungi here... in dilute solution... not an avid, "strong" proton donor... Thanks for sending this along. Bob Fenner>

Cleaning My Substrate, FW    8/19/07
Hello there, hello here, hello everywhere! A question pls...i have 3-4" of gravel & sand mixed. How deep should i vacuum? Sorry but i tried reading & looking for it, but been doin so much reading on your website, that i cant anymore, my eyes are killing & got a bit of a headache! Thanks in advance. Ghulam
<Hello Ghulam! Cleaning gravel shouldn't be difficult. In fact, you shouldn't need to do it very often. Siphon across the top of the gravel when you do each water change (once a week, ideally) and make sure you suck away all the obvious dirt (like dead plant leaves, uneaten food, fish faeces). If you need to, stir the gravel with a pencil, bamboo cane or something similar. Malayan livebearing snails (Melanoides spp.) are excellent gravel/sand cleaners, and prevent anoxic decay from happening. Plants also "clean" the substrate indirectly, by passing oxygen into the substrate (via their roots) and by absorbing the products of bacterial decay. If you have plants in an aquarium, you really shouldn't stir or move the gravel at all -- plants HATE having their roots moved! Hope this helps. Neale>

Tank is Too Clean  3/30/07
I have no idea what is going on.  I cleaned my tank a month ago and two weeks after the water turned foggy.  So I washed everything in the tank filled it with new water.  now three days ago, the water turned muggy again and my smaller angel fish tail is slightly torn along with her fins and she has white stuff on her eyes like cataracts. Im going to put her into a separate tank put sea salt into it and aqua plus, what else could I do?
< When you cleaned the tank a month ago you did too good a job. You removed all the good bacteria that breaks down the fish waste. The foggy water is an ammonia spike. This is deadly to fish. If it doesn't kill them outright then they get bacterial infections such as the one you are witnessing. In the separate tank treat the angelfish with Nitrofuranace. In the main tank add Bio-Spira from Marineland to the bacteria up and going again.-Chuck>

Cleaning a Bare Tank  9/6/06
Hi, sorry to bother you on your e-mail account, but I cant find the answer that I am looking for.  If my tank is empty, and I clean the inside of the walls with vinegar to get the scum or deposits off, do I need to do anything special with the tank afterwards so when I fill it up and begin cycling it, it doesn't kill the fish?  I used white vinegar and took an algae scrubber pad and scrubbed on the inside of the walls. I just need to know if this is going to affect the fish later on.  I will rinse it out with warm water and all, but just needed to know if it will ever cause any damage.  Thank you for your time, Kyle.
< Fill the tank up outside with clean water and let it sit for a few days. Get yourself some single edged razor blades from the paint dept of the local hardware store. With the tank full of water you should scrap down the calcium build up from the inside glass. After soaking for a few days it will become softer and easier to scrub off.-Chuck>