[musho3210]

hmm, may i ask why are you doing a complete strip-down? Also you might need to drip acclimate or do something similar for about 15 minutes, maybe less for the fish to get used to there new water.

 

[musho3210]

Hey Fuzz.

The first time you clean out your fish can be a pretty nervous time. U seem to spend twice as long checking and re-checking books and forums then actually cleaning them out, i know i did.

There's a few things i would do differently when cleaning them out tho.

The first, (depending on how many fish you have), i wouldn't remove them from the tank. As long as your gentle and don't clean to vigorously, they won't mind. (mine normally try and eat my hand as i'm cleaning them.)
This brings me onto my next suggestion. I would strongly recommend u not to remove more than 25-30% of the water in your tank at a time. U can do up to 50% change, however this is in extreme circumtances. I change 10-15% every 2 weeks, and 25% a month.

It's personal preference, but i don't scrub my rocks and wood, u may remove the algea, but u also remove any beneficial bacteria, also my loach likes to munch on the green algea.

Sorry for the long post but my final point is to leave a bucket of water overnight with water treatment in it, to neutralize any harmful chemicals and warm it up. I also put a plastic bag loosely over the top to stop hairs and dust/dirt falling in the bucket overnight.

I hope this is helpful, and i appologise if i've said anything that was obvious to yourself or that u already new.

Anymore questions, don't b shy.

Actually, most people, inlcuding me, prefer the oposite and im sure most fish do too. 25-30% water changes weekly is the most common with 50% weekly pretty common too.

If you dont really have any serious problems like crazy deadly algae growth or a disease that has been leeched into the gravel and stuff, i would suggest againts the tank cleaning, why, because it upsets the beneficial bacteria living there, actually more than upsets, it kills them. Once there all dead then you will probably have to re-cycle your tank, and since you said you have sensitive fish then i guess you shouldnt at all. If you dont like the algae growing or want to change the rocks, then do it slowly and calmly with the fish in there, taking fish in and out of the tank to clean it is very stressfull, maybe even more stressful than cleaning it with them in there. Also, the rocks at the bottom, i think you are reffering to the gravel, if it is the gravel dont change it to glass, it is very hard for bacteria to grow on glass which means the gravel bed will lose its bio-filtration capacity.

 

[musho3210]

i see exactly what is wrong, you didnt cycle the tank or you added fish too fast. The neon wasnt eating his reflection, he/she was deprived of oxygen whether it was ammonia or nitrite and needed to go to the top of the tank to get the best oxygen, the ammonia or nitrite probably ended up killing him.

What are your water params?

Even if those fish died you wont need to do a complete clean-out, those arent even nessicary unless some chemical or toxin is in the tank. Water changes and gravel vaccuming is all that is needed

 

[musho3210]

i am worried about all the people here that are saying that the weekly water changes should be 10-15%. It was back in the old days of freshwater keeping where the water chages were that low per month. That was before we learned that high levels of nitrate were toxic. Now the most reccomended is 25% weekly or 15% TWICE weekly.

 

[musho3210]

hmm, This is all way too much, a lot of different points of views and ideas- The only thing wrong with my water is hardness and I don't know what that means- my guess would be density- I don't know why the neon would need more oxygen and the other fish didn't, I won't clean out my tank with vinegar or soap- I had never used soap on any of my fish tanks in my life! I will just do the taking 40% water out twice a week and putting new in!

its not that the neons need more oxygen, its that they arent getting enough

When there is ammonia poisoning, the fishes body naturally creates slime that protects the body from the ammonia, but when the ammonia gets higher they need to create more slime. Pretty soom it reaches the point where the slime gets into there gills and suffocates them. thats when they need more oxygen since the slime is preventing the gills to take it in, and thats why the take it from the top of the tank where there is the most oxygen.

Nitrite enters the fishes blood stream. If you know what human carbon monoxide poisoning is, you should know how nitrite poisoning is. It prevents the red blood cells from carrying oxygen around the fishes body which in the end kills it, it will also go to the top of the tank to get as much oxygen as possible.

 

[musho3210]

so I need to recheck my water and fix it so My fish can get less nitrate and ammonia?

nitrate isnt something to worry about too much. Its nitrite that is toxic at any level, nitrate is only toxic 40ppm+