Question: Deep cleaning tank?

I've been doing a whole bunch of research and lurking through the forums about cycling tanks and I feel like i'm getting the hang of it. Only thing I'm not sure about is when i have to completely clean out the tank every month. Would i have to go through the whole cycling process again or how does this work? Will the good bacteria stay in the filter or would the sand help cycle it faster? would i have to change the sand as well? i'm a little clueless on that. Any advice would be gladly appreciated.

You should never completely clean out your tank.Get yourself a good siphon and keep your substrate well vacuumed. Vacuum up mulm (that's a scientific term for 'gunk') from the substrate, rinse your filter media occasionally in tank water (rinse it in a big bowl and discard the newly gross water, and put the filter media back in the tank. Never rinse this in tap water). Sometimes your tank walls might look a little... slimy. Wipe those down with a clean cloth. If I need to do that, I usually only do one or two walls at a time to keep from removing too much bacteria), and do it just before my water change so I can suck the gunky water out.

To clean your tank you just need a siphon hose thing to go across the bottom of the substrate to pick up all the gross bits and pieces that collect there. You generally remove and replace around 20% of the water every 1-2 weeks to dilute the build up of nitrates that occur in a cycled tank.

You clean your filter media (ie. the sponge in your filter) in some of the tank water, this allows you to get rid of the some of the stuff collecting and clogging up the filter media while still keeping the bacteria colonies alive. If you rinsed your filter media in water with chlorine for example, the bacterial colonies would die and you'd have to cycle your tank again.
You don't have to remove or change the sand, just move it around with your hands occasionally to stop bad bacteria building up underneath it.

Hope this helps!

edit: what Kaysie said!

danchristopher said:

You clean your filter media (ie. the sponge in your filter) in some of the tank water, this allows you to get rid of the some of the stuff collecting and clogging up the filter media while still keeping the bacteria colonies alive. If you rinsed your filter media in water with chlorine for example, the bacterial colonies would die and you'd have to cycle your tank again.

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Ya, above info is good! Just one thing, cleaning your media filter with tank water is probably best but not really necessary. Most of your bio filter is your substrate and other items in tanks (ornaments ect.), the filter media is such a small amount it wouldn't really effect anything. But that info is not wrong just not really needed. You definitely would not loose your cycle.

You also should never do a water change more then 30% even if you are having tank issues, large water changes are harder on the animals in the tank then the already issue you are dealing with! Instead small water changes more frequently.

Hope this helps!
Nat

natjobe said:

Ya, above info is good! Just one thing, cleaning your media filter with tank water is probably best but not really necessary. Most of your bio filter is your substrate and other items in tanks (ornaments ect.), the filter media is such a small amount it wouldn't really effect anything. But that info is not wrong just not really needed. You definitely would not loose your cycle.
Nat

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You make an excellent point; there is probably plenty of bacteria alive on the surfaces in your tank to not crash your cycle - but I still wouldn't go rinsing out my filter media with anything but tank water. Better safe than sorry!