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Question: I need to clean my aquarium...?

(Posted by: Shazza on 2010-02-07 08:59:06)

I really need to clean my aquarium, but I have only just realised that I have no aquarium salt at the moment... Can I still clean my tank without the salt? I have the AquaSafe, just not salt... Thanks

Posted by: John M on 2010-02-07, 09:09:45

Ivenever used Aquarium salt. No need for it in freshwater tanks. As for cleaning never strip it to clean it, just syphon out 20-25% of water by hoovering the bottom to get debris up. Replace with clean treated water at the correct temperature. Also remove any brown or damaged foliage in your plants as these can add to the toxins in your tank. Clean the glass with an algae scraping if you dont have algae eating fish.

Posted by: iNSTiNCTx3 on 2010-02-07, 09:03:42

Use a siphon to suck 20-50% of the water out. Replace it with tap water that has been carefully neutralized. :|

Posted by: Paige on 2010-02-07, 09:05:32

Honestly I have had fish for years and never once did I use the aquarium salt. One thing I have learned is fish are delicate creatures and they hate it when you tamper around with anything unusual. So I would just go out and buy more salt before you clean it your fish will be fine they actually like it dirty.

Posted by: gchild on 2010-02-07, 09:07:40

You can remove the fish and add them to a bowl or something. Then remove any rocks or anything you have in there. Once everything is removed, pour the water out and scrub around. Rinse really good and add water with fish back.... almost sound like you are making a fish soup haha. good luck.

Posted by: ♥BYBs are money grabbing idiots♥ on 2010-02-07, 09:25:22

Why do you need salt for your tank unless you are keeping fish that need salt like mollies

Posted by: badgerhill87 on 2010-02-07, 10:39:43

I use salt in my FRESHWATER aquarium, but it is only a small amount for stress redusing purposes and I also noticed it helps to control my nitrate levels :) so win win. Anyway, if you have no salt I would just clean out a little water so maybe about 20-25% - so that 75% of the water is still salted and then treat the new tap water replace the taken out 25% with about 15% of freshwater and then when you do get some more salt I would just mix enough salt for 25% water into 10% and then add it. It will get your tank up to the "usual " salt level. SO if your tank is 20L take out 4L (25%) replace with about 2L and then add another 2L with enough salt for the full 4L you took out. Remember to mix the salt into a bucket with 10% of water in first and THEN add it to the tank. Hope this helps

Posted by: joe on 2010-02-07, 10:55:42

A little trick that i have found usefull is to add a bit of toilet duck and some bicarb soda. hope this helps!

Posted by: Eliot on 2010-02-07, 14:04:39

Yer, just siphon out 25-30% of the water and then put some new water in the bucket, dechlorinate it and let it stall for about 2-4 hours and then add to the tank

Posted by: Ofri Dagan on 2010-02-08, 09:57:26

Remember to do everything real slowly. The one thing fish hate the most is a sudden change in their water. If you do change the water, add the new water as slowly as possible, depending how sensitive your fish are.

Posted by: Andrew on 2010-02-10, 16:55:35

You don’t need salt in a freshwater aquarium. It’s only used as a tonic. I have only used salt once to treat pond fish.