# Cleaning Plywood tank?



## jkop (Jul 29, 2007)

How do you scrub the algea off from a playwood tank sides/rear? i.e without breaking the sealant?


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

If the tank is empty, wipe it down with a paste of half iodized table salt and half 3% hydrogen peroxide solution and then scrub it off with a cloth or folded paper towel.

If it is full and you have fish adaptable to it, lower the pH, soften the water, and darken it by adding black water extract or several pieces of driftwood that are still releasing tannins. Regularly dosing the tank with hydrogen peroxide will speed up the demise of the algae.

Another, riskier, way to remove the algae in a set up plywood aquarium is to add a large plecostomus. As soon as it has cleared the algae, move it back to a glass aquarium or on to the next plywood one. If you wait too long, the pleco's poop will change color to match the color of the inside plywood walls of the tank. Get it out even if it has missed a few algae spots!


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## jkop (Jul 29, 2007)

> Regularly dosing the tank with hydrogen peroxide


eek! Hydrogen Peroxide + FISH?!? Won't the fish die?


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

jkop said:


> > Regularly dosing the tank with hydrogen peroxide
> 
> 
> eek! Hydrogen Peroxide + FISH?!? Won't the fish die?


 No, of course not. Hydrogen peroxide is naturally formed in lakes and rivers by the action of sunlight. You are simply imitating nature and making your aquarium closer to a natural body of water.

It oxygenates the water and detritus, uneaten food, and algae. Snails that depended on algae and uneaten fish food for sustenance will gradually starve and die out, but fish and vascular plants will only benefit from the correct dose.

One way to ensure the proper dose is to use a doser, one brand of which specifically for dosing hydrogen peroxide does not depend on dosing pumps but on the metered creation of oxygen bubbles.

http://www.growforce.co.uk/products/129 ... um%29.html


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

Mcdaphnia: Do you use peroxide on a regular basis (in a filled tank with fish), and if so for what reason?


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

plecostamas are not good for plywood tank why is this? Why would the color of their poop matter?


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

spotmonster said:


> Mcdaphnia: Do you use peroxide on a regular basis (in a filled tank with fish), and if so for what reason?


 I have when I was breeding more fish and had over a hundred tanks set up. I used the Meridian oxygenators, but they are no longer being sold and have not yet switched over to the German brand and it's hydrogen peroxide solution. Both are stronger than the 3% drugstore stuff, but I think the Soechting brand can use the drusgtore stuff in a pinch. It is not strong enough for the dosers I have.

The reason for using it is to create water conditions more like natural ones where hydrogen peroxide is produced by natural processes in the water. It also cuts down on algae and "mulm", and eventually eliminates snails. This allows fish to spawn and eggs to hatch that might be more challenge or impossible without it. It probably destroys some parasites and disease organisms as well. Present company (cichlids) benefit too, although cichlids tend to be in the 5 point category rather than a 10 or 15, so it is not essential for our hardy and determined-to-breed pets. But it is convenient not to clean up as much detritus weekly and what you do clean out is a nice off white floc rather than a dark sometimes smelly or slimey ooze.

The 3% stuff is handy in the event of a power outage. Diluting and dripping it in will help oxygenate the water and keep the gravel from going anaerobic.


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## jkop (Jul 29, 2007)

is this just one way to clean a plywood tank or is this how everyone does it?


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

jkop said:


> is this just one way to clean a plywood tank or is this how everyone does it?


 I think a lot of people simply leave the tank "natural" and don't clean algae and encrustations off of it. If people have hard water, they often use vinegar instead of hydrogen peroxide. Some simply use salt and tap water. Using a hard abrasive is going to wear away some of the coating, and wet salt is a soft abrasive that with good rinsing leaves no residue, and if you rinse incompletely, a little salt, vinegar, tap water, and/or hydrogen peroxide is safe for most fish.

I have used plecos, but their teeth are harder than the waterproof coating, so you have to watch. They will begin eating the coating away and if it is blue, the waste strings from the pleco will begin to turn blue.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I3lazd said:


> plecostamas are not good for plywood tank why is this? Why would the color of their poop matter?


 Plecos are not good for plywood tanks because they love to eat wood. If the color of their poop changes to match the color of the coating in the tank, it means they are eating the coating, which would be a bad thing.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

So I should not put any plecos in my plywood tank? I am fiberglassing the inside so I doubt they would eat that.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I3lazd said:


> So I should not put any plecos in my plywood tank? I am fiberglassing the inside so I doubt they would eat that.


I've never had a problem temporaraly keeping plecos in a plywood tank. Move them out when the algae is gone or when the get too big, which may be over about 18".


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

I am not sure it would grow too big in a 650 gallon but I could be wrong. So I should not put in a pleco. when I start up my tank with fish then?


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