Loaches Online Forum

I know I've asked this before but would it be possible for me to remove my fish when I clean their tank??

The gravel has gotten quite dirty, and I want to keep them healthy.

Is it possible to do that without stressing them so bad they go to fish heaven??

I have a mini heart attack when I even think about it.

The loaches have become quite reclusive lately. Even the more active yoyos. They don't seem to be "sick" but I feel like they arent happy. Maybe once I clean the tank really good they'll be better. I don't know.

I had to move some of my rocks around last night to find a C.L that was MIA. My heart was racing. The poor loaches were so scared. I know about the toxins they release when they're stressed. But the rams wouldn't get out of the way! Haha.

I just need to know the easiest way to go about this.

I feel like a terrible fish keeper

If the fish start acting up my first port of call would be a full range of water tests, ammonia, Nitrites, nitrates and PH.

I don't think you need to remove the fish to clean the tank, remember use a filtered water siphon for your water changes and dig this into the gravel a little.

Don't forget you want a tidy tank but not spotless, you need some bacteria and "muck" in the gravel to make a healthy balance. If it’s ornaments you want to clean do them one at a time. You’d probably have a fright with my tank, all my rocks are covered in algae! ...but then again I have a hillstream loach tank

If it's getting really messy maybe cut back on the feeding, you may be feeding too much?

There is a special kind of siphon for cleaning an aquarium. It will pick up the gravel momentarily, then drop it, but the debris is lighter in weight and gets sucked out.
Here is a picture of one.

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... catid=3889

It is a large tube (size varies, they are 1"-2" diameter x 6"-12" long) connected to a 3/8-1/2" x 4' or longer piece of vinyl tubing.

Put the end of the vinyl tubing in a bucket, use the large end inside the tank. My fish are so not-scared I have to keep them away from the tube. They want to see what is happening in there.
Start the siphon, and plunge the end into the gravel. As the debris and gravel go up the tube watch to see the gravel does not get too far up the tube. Most of the time the gravel will just fall back to the bottom by itself. Sometimes you might need to pinch off the vinyl tube to slow the water flow and allow the gravel to fall back.
Lift the large tube and plunge it into another spot in the gravel. Repeat.
You can hover the siphon near a decoration while you pick up the item to clean under it. The siphon nearby can pick up some of the debris that is disturbed when you lift the item. Then vacuum the gravel under it.

If the tank has not been cleaned in a while you might be removing more water than you want to to clean the whole tank. Just do enough to drain perhaps 25-30% of the water from the tank. Next time, do another area, then another... until the whole tank has been cleaned. Many people find they can do about 1/3 to 1/2 of the gravel with one water change. They will alternate, cleaning the left half this week, the right half next week...

Have enough water prepared to refill the tank. Dechlorinator, any mineral additives (mostly for hard water tanks) or whatever else is needed.

By working on the tank a little at a time each week your fish will be able to hide in the other half while you move rocks or driftwood and vacuum under these things, and each half of the tank will not get too dirty between cleanings.

My fish love watching me clean the tank. I suck up mollies all the time, because they are so nosey. I fish them out of the dirty bucket and throw them back in the tank. Cories follow the siphone to grab any tidbits.

If you want to really stress your fish, try netting them to put them in a bucket while you clean. I would never take the fish out the tank during cleaning.

Please post a list of your tank readings. I think your tank is crashing, and we can help you if you let us know the readings.

I wouldn't remove the fish either, too much stress. They'll get used to the process of you cleaning their tank.