In an aquarium, how do you clean the wasted food?

Question

My fish gets stubborn sometimes and will only eat maybe one time a day instead of 2-3 like others should. So the food eventually sinks and goes between it's pebbles. I had previously posted about my fish dying when I cleaned its tank and typically like to clean that grime out. But should I just leave it be since you're suppose to change percentages of its water? Your advice has been awesome, thanks for the feedback.

Answer 1

you need to get a gravel siphon and when you do your partial water cahnge you use the gravel siphon to clean some of the gravel not all of it at the same time if you do not know how to use a grave siphon ask your local pet store and they will be glad to show you how use it

Answer 2

well, if it's a small tank, a turkey baster definitely works

if it's a bigger one, 10+ gallons, you need a gravel siphon to work through the gravel

weekly partial waterchanges of 25% are recommended, and filling it back up with conditioned water

as for feeding, only feed as much as they will eat in under 5 minutes, the left over food can be netted out

and since you have pebbles in your tank, you might reconsider and get medium gravel for it, which will make it easier to get dirt out of the tank

Answer 3

If it's a proper aquarium with a filter then you need a gravel vacuum to suck up the debris from the gravel when you do your water changes.  Make sure that you don't feed your fish too much.  Most fish only need to be fed once a day.

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Answer 4

Definately clean out any uneaten food. Small tank you can use a Turkey baster, larger tank you will want a syphon / gravel vac. You can clean the gravel and do a partial water change as often as you like, it will do no harm to change 10% of the water every day. You shouldn't need to, but if you do, it wont hurt anything.

The problem with leaving it is that it rots and releases extra ammonia (and other crud) into the water. That can overwhelm the filter and your fish end up dead. A small amount can be handled by the system, but too much is bad.

If your fish isn't eating all the food it likely you are feeding it too much. Try once per day for a while and I bet it acts hungrier. It's VERY hard to actually starve a fish as long as you are giving it some food. A little less food is safer than too much.

Ian

Answer 5

You can suck the stuff out with a turkey baster.

Answer 6

When you feed your fish watch to see if they are hungry. Only feed once a day then and only sprinkle in what it looks like they will eat.

Next; do you have a proper siphon for changing the water?  The tube starts siphoning the water from the bottom of the aquarium.

If this is a real concern you may want to consider purchasing the under gravel filter; this works very well.

This would be a constant filtering and would probably be the best option for you.

Answer 7

Undergravel Filter is good and all...but if you use a gravel cleaner when changing the water, it will get a lot of this stuff up.

If you do regular 10%-20% water changes every 1-2 weeks, just use the gravel cleaner (tube connected to hose), and syphin out some of the water as you clean the gravel...then put in your fresh treated water after you have done this. It really makes a difference.

Can get these at any pet store or even Wal-Mart rather cheap ($6-$10) for a medium to large one. They even have the Python Gravel Cleaners...and if you have a huge tank and access to water from next to your tank, these can come in handy, but I personally prefer the medium to big regular gravel cleaners.

Fed your fish what they will eat in 2 mins.  This should be plenty.  Once a day is fine to feed them.

Best of Luck!

Answer 8

http://www.arcatapet.com/fullsize/12591....

buy one of those and don't feed as much.

Answer 9

get a gravel cleaner