I hate to admit but its true. Im lazy.

gill again68

Active Member
Well last night I was looking at my tank and saying to myself that it just doesn't run like it use to. Now I clean it pretty good and I pay attention to it on some level everyday but I never have really gotten under the hood so to speak. Well last night was the night. I got some brushes and some good ole elbow grease to the machine and cleaned where you dont look. Like behind the refrigerator. Got all my pumps and intakes as well as the inside of the overflow. That thing had some stuff in there. I know its probably something all you folks do on a weekly basis but I have to admit I had let that go. Now she is in there purring like a baby kitten getting its butt scratched. Im so proud and disappointed in myself.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
wait... you have a refrigerator in your tank???
LOL, J/K
I don't clean much in my tank except the front glass.
I do need a good recipie for getting HA off the inside of my powerheads.
Since I added the scrubber all the other HA has gone away long ago, but it still grows pretty good inside my PH's and I can't seem to get it out. They are up at the top of the tank close to the light so they get what they need there.
First dibs on the butrients before the scrubber even sees that water, all the lgiht they could handle.
on a similar note i had a little GHA growing in a little patch in my sump near where the light is which is pretty common. I reached in and grabbed the patch the otehr day and tore it out and I felt soemthing run out of the patch and up my hand, I did the old hand shake anfd probably screamed like a girl, never did see what it was, I'm sure as fast as my hand flicked it had quite a ride.
 

gill again68

Active Member
Funny, I was cleaning in the fuge and had grabbed two handfuls before thinking....."hey stupid stuff that bites and stings live in here". Then I promptly went in for another dip. I guess Ill keep acting stupid until I learn the hard way.
The way your going to clean those heads is probably remove them and get after it. That will be my next big project but I think I have some time. Its coralline algae on mine thats the concern. I can see long term it clogging up the intake fins on those.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
I have taken them out and washed and scrubbed them, but the stuff just doesnt get off. I put them back in and started it up and the fins fill right back up again becuase I can't get in all the little channels with my fingernails I guess.
Gonna take them out one at a time and soak them in vinegar overnight I think.
 

gill again68

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstdv8 http:///forum/thread/382282/i-hate-to-admit-but-its-true-im-lazy#post_3335366
I have taken them out and washed and scrubbed them, but the stuff just doesnt get off. I put them back in and started it up and the fins fill right back up again becuase I can't get in all the little channels with my fingernails I guess.
Gonna take them out one at a time and soak them in vinegar overnight I think.
Yup the vinegar is the trick from what I read. But I would wash them good before getting them back in the system.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
You can also use a mild bleach solution.
Yes, I'm serious.
Soak the part in a solution of 1 gallon water to 1 teaspoon bleach. this will work out to be a 0.1% solution. Soak the parts for a few minutes, then flush with running tap water. You can soak it up to a day if necessary.
Here's the part that will keep you from killing your tank. For however long you soak your part in the chlorine bleach, soak it again in a dechlorinator solution for the same time. Go buy an aquarium water dechlorinator if you don't have one, and make a solution of 1/4 cup dechlorinator to 1/2 gallon water. Soak the part, then once again rinse in clean, running tap. Give it a final rinse in old tank water if you feel worried.
This is a pretty aggressive way of cleaning tank parts, and should only be used for non-absorbent materials like plastics, glass, etc. I have used this technique on powerheads, faux corals, and even large shells, and never had a problem with the chlorine wash.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
I'm going with the vinegar since that was what was reccomended to clean the pumps to keep them from gumming up, regular maintenance, I hope it kills the algae too.
 

flower

Well-Known Member

I scrub mine when they look like they really need it (+1 on lazy me)...I use a (fish only) toothbrush and plain old tap water. they always came clean except for coraline which turns white after tap water, it changes colors soon enough after it goes back in..
 
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