# remove rocks to clean?



## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

Wondering how often ppl remove all the rocks and decorations to clean the substrate?


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## ak3mi (Nov 26, 2008)

i do it every week, depends on how bad the algae gets on my rock, and if its sunny i take them out place them in sun, give it a day or two, wash them off and they turn out perfect never had cleaner rocks. i dont trust all this bleaching and boiling way.


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

ak3mi said:


> i do it every week, depends on how bad the algae gets on my rock, and if its sunny i take them out place them in sun, give it a day or two, wash them off and they turn out perfect never had cleaner rocks. i dont trust all this bleaching and boiling way.


you take all your rocks out of your tank every single week? Seems like uneeded work to me, especially since I don't think there is anything wrong with algae on rocks. Maybe that's just because I have mbuna, and they enjoy it. Though, I actually prefer the look, as it makes it more natural. Not to mention having an empty tank for 3 days of every week you see some algae growing on your rocks seems a little much...

Maybe I just misread what you meant, but either way I think taking your rocks out every week to clean is major overkill. Especially if you setup your rocks before adding substrate.

I dunno, just curious I guess


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## starrynight (Apr 30, 2009)

I have enough rock in my aquarium to fill two 5 gallon buckets. The rocks are stacked about a foot high and two feet long in the tank creating many caves and hiding places. I vacuum the sand weekly with the water change but only take all the rocks out about every month to two months. This gives me a chance to vacuum the sand completely and mix up territories if there has been a spike in aggressive behavior. I just put the rocks into buckets and then return them to the tank. If there are fry present I leave a few large rocks for shelter while I clean (if i move these they just follow). I consider the rocks to be part of the biofilter and my fish keep any algae in check. The little bit of green the big guys can't reach makes the tank look more natural and the fry like it. Works for me, your mileage may vary.


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## ak3mi (Nov 26, 2008)

soz what i ment to say Nautic, well i do take my rocks out but only the top ones where the light hits them, i do it once the algae gets bad, cuz i have white rock with black sand so looks mint like that. i would not take them all out. wayyyy to much lol, just the top layer and move them about once in awhile for the fish.


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## nauTik (Mar 18, 2009)

ak3mi said:


> soz what i ment to say Nautic, well i do take my rocks out but only the top ones where the light hits them, i do it once the algae gets bad, cuz i have white rock with black sand so looks mint like that. i would not take them all out. wayyyy to much lol, just the top layer and move them about once in awhile for the fish.


ahh I see  that makes much more sense


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## BoostedX (Mar 1, 2009)

If you have algea really bad and your fish wont eat it all get a couple of simease algae eaters. They are small but cleaned my 75G up in about a week. I am actually trying to get algae to grow now. Just make sure that they are true simease algae eaters.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

I only remove rocks if I am trying to catch somebody who is really good at evading. I take a small spare powerhead and blow all the debris from the rock structuire to the front where I can easily vacuum it out.


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

MalawiLover said:


> I only remove rocks if I am trying to catch somebody who is really good at evading. I take a small spare powerhead and blow all the debris from the rock structuire to the front where I can easily vacuum it out.


+1


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

I use my official fish tank turkey baster if there is an area between rocks that needs to be cleaned.


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## John7429 (Apr 12, 2009)

xalow said:


> I use my official fish tank turkey baster if there is an area between rocks that needs to be cleaned.


+1 wonderful tool


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