How to Clean a Planted Tank… The Easy Way!
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2024
- I wanted to do a quick tank cleaning on the 20G Back-to-Basics planted tank before I left for vacation, but it has absolutely grown out of control! While I don’t mind the jungle look, some of my plants are dying off from lack of light because the faster growing ones are covering the water surface. Follow along as I show you how to do a deep clean of your planted aquarium.
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🛒 MATERIALS I USED
(As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from the links below. Also, I work for Aquarium Co-Op but do not receive commissions from their links.)
▶ Razor (for scraping algae): amzn.to/3B8Hrzs
▶ Pruning scissors: amzn.to/386X3XX
▶ Planting tweezers: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Towel: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Plastic container: got it at the Dollar Tree
▶ Root tabs (ground fertilizer): www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Water test strips: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Python “No Spill Water Change” siphon:
▶ Water conditioner: amzn.to/3y9qkvO
▶ Easy Green (liquid fertilizer): www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Seachem Equilibrium (minerals): www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
▶ Glass cleaner: www.aquariumcoop.com/products...
📚 RESOURCES
▶ How to Clean a Betta Fish Tank… the Easy Way! • How to Clean a Betta F...
▶ How to Clean a Sponge Filter + 3 Bonus Tips: • How to Clean a Sponge ...
▶ How to Clean Your Aquarium Sand... the Easy Way! • How to Clean Your Aqua...
🦐 EXTRAS
▶ Instagram: / girltalksfish
▶ Merch store: girltalksfish.creator-spring.com
EDITOR: Matt Gray at www.grayfamilyfilms.com/ and / mentalityfilms
ATTRIBUTION
Music from Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com/referra... (if you use my referral link, I get 1 month free 😀)
Music from SoundStripe:
• Andy Ellison “New Leaf” - PFVLRNHRPLL41NAA
• Cast of Characters “Shoes N Socks” - XGF7WBUPKYGAUUMU
• Andy Ellison “Blank Canvas” - R4TAGJSZPV4I2YSE
• Andy Ellison “All Your Quirks” - 9E57ENEIFKTZNLO0
#girltalksfish #nanofish #plantedaquarium
0:00 Let’s do a detailed cleaning of my planted tank
0:57 Step 1: clean off algae
1:29 Step 2: prune overgrown plants and replant them
3:11 Step 3: add root tabs
4:31 Step 4: clean the filter
5:08 Step 5: test and change water
9:18 Step 6: add fertilizer
10:23 Step 7: wipe down the outside surfaces
11:12 Step 8: record the data and adjust as needed 
Животные
*What tips do you have for cleaning a planted aquarium?* And if you don't have time to do a detailed clean, here's my 5-minute tank cleaning that I did for my betta tank: ruclips.net/video/W3VV_c69CyQ/видео.html
I love how your videos are edited its good 💜💜💜
My tip is to have a young son help 😄 works well for me!
@@mattgray9297 😂 I guess I should start getting my kids more involved, at least with feedings and water tests for now.
@@shiyadh7355 Huge props to my editor TF!
Towels, towels, towels 😂
I think this is a great video. Here’s a few side notes
Low nitrates: Don’t worry about lower nitrated readings, unless you see nitrogen deficiencies in your plants. When you test, you measure excess nitrate dissolved in solution; but you completely miss consumption.
What’s happening is your fish’s metabolic activity; as well as, fish waste and food decomposition is still producing ammonia (where some of it will convert to nitrate).
But, the plants are always up-taking nitrate and ammonia as soon as it’s produced. You don’t have to have 20 or 30 ppm nitrate to be successful. You can easily be successful at 1-5 ppm, so long as you actively monitor it. If it’s truly in optimal balance (which is exceedingly rare), the plant uptake and bacterial load perfectly matches the fish load. In that situation, you don’t need to fertilize macro nutrients.
It’s when we exceed either the plant load, or the fish load; then we have to act. If we heavily plant and heavily favor plants; you will notice deficiencies, and you must test and fertilizer. Opposite that, if we exceed and favor fish stocking; you will see nitrates and phosphates continually climb, then we need to chemically filter or dilute (water change).
However, if you are near true balance: your tests can read almost no nitrate and still have thriving plants, as the bio loads match.
What this means: watch for deficiencies. If you notice any: fertilizer. Because then you confirmed your tanks’ plant side of the biological equation is larger than the fish side.
The Bubbles: people worry about bubbles coming from substrate because they worry about hydrogen sulfide. You likely don’t need to worry about it at all, that heavy plant load will keep the majority of your substrate oxygenated; given your tank size and substrate depth.
When you have to worry is deeper substrate with low plant concentrations and low substrate porosity. In those situations, you can exceed aerobic and anoxic conditions and create fully anaerobic zones. You can see it as a very dark brown almost blackening in lighter substrates.
However, even in anaerobic conditions, bubbles are a good thing; that is gas escaping to the atmosphere and leaving your tank. The worry starts when you disturb sediment, it bubbles, and then you see cloudy or turbid water emanating from it: that’s when to worry.
If you have darkening spots in sediment and it emanates turbid or murky water: that is a sign the dissolved organics, that where fermenting in anaerobic conditions; reached your main water column. Which often results in toxic conditions, and die-off’s. (it's most often turbid, because most organics are clear. Other than odd light refraction, they are very difficult to see)
But, you don’t have that. That tank is fine, and doing quite well. Great Job
Your spread sheet is also fantastic. spotting trends is very difficult without recorded data. So that's awesome.
I learned nearly everything I know about plants from you. I’m having some algae problems atm but I haven’t killed a single plant I’ve tried to keep yet! I thought I killed my bucephalandra because they’ve been melting back for a while now, but a few days ago I saw a new little leaf! Thanks Irene! 🙏
I still use the ol' bucket method for water changing using a syphon, as I like to know exactly the volume of water I'm taking out. My bucket has measurements on the side of it in gallons and liters. This allows me to know exactly how much water conditioner to add no matter the product (metric or imperial directions)
Oooh, new packaging on the root tabs?!? Great idea!
Before I insert root tabs, I pierce them with a straight pin to let the air out. Keeps them from floating and makes them easier to use.
Same I never thought about it until the gel caps started breaking down, formed a bubble and floated right up out of the substrate 🙄
@@MrsShocoTaco Haha that's totally happened to me before and I freaked out because I thought it was some kind of weird fungus. 🍄
The red platies look great with the green plants.
I know, right? And the little babies everywhere always cheer me up. 😍
This was a great video! I’ve started to dread my water changes because of the buckets of water I have to lug around - I’m a little scared of the python system for some reason though. This video does make it seem really easy though!
I have 8 tanks ranging from 5 gallons to 55 gallons, so I imagine this could make my life a lot easier ❤️
Yay, glad I could help! Yes, the lack of buckets really makes everything so much easier. I still have to use buckets with my 5 gallon tank though since I think this siphon is too fast for it. Maybe I should try it some day!
I glad to see that I'm not the only aquarium hobbyist who relies on a spreadsheet for aquarium plant and fish husbandry. Thanks for your videos reminding everyone that the work should indeed be fun.
Very practical (and fun!) tips -- I love that I'm not the only one that talks to all my fish/snails while I'm cleaning the tank :)
By far the best video on complete tank maintenance I have ever watched. Thank you so much!
One of the better videos on maintaining planted aquariums. Thank u for making this video.
Set up my first tank with help from your videos 🙌🏼 really appreciate the content!
Had to make sure I followed after the AOT mention
AWESOME break down video. A lot of your videos gave/give me that extra push for the planted tanks. THANKS 🥰
I always learn something new watching your videos, thanks 😊 👍👍
This tank looked great with the overgrowth, and also after your trimming. I love the fish you have as well! Best regards and thank you
Love the step-By-step presentation
I am new to fish keeping and your videos are such a joy to watch :) thank you
I love the fact that you use excel to track your data. You have come a long way and have helped me in the process. Having a sucessful planted tank is a life goal for me. I'm living the dream!!!!!
Thank you, Irene! I love your content so much. I recently started keeping track of my maintenance in a planner. Yeah, I'm "nermy" like that 😊
Wow, the tank looks so much better after the haircut! I guess I need to buy more test kits for the plants. Thanks for all you do for us new guys!
Interesting content. Thanks for sharing the detailed step by step process
Thanks for this video! I really appreciated all your experience even mistakes. I'm not very good with plants, and am planning my 29 gallon nano community plant tank. I haven't had a tank in a long time. I really enjoy your videos!
Great as usual, Irene ❤
It's good to know I'm not the only one who documents what I do to the tank ❤😄 good video
I like the water animation you added in I had to rewind the video just to make sure I wasn't seeing things 🤣
I recently started a 5 gal. Betta planted aquarium and when I am finished cleaning I put the fish water on my out door plants an they are looking awesome. Thanks for your videos
I juuust set up my first nano tank to cycle and was youtube searching this! Thanks for the video!
I am definitely going to use some of these tips because my brand new tank (which just finished cycling 4-5 times for the first time) is heavy planted...
Wowww!!... from your January How to Balance vid...
Looks like a whole new world!! -Great work!
Thank you for this video! Super helpful 👍
Awesome content as always. Super helpful. Thank you!
Hi Irene, great video as usual. I just purchased the same wireless microphone for the videos I produce at church.
Nothing wrong with keeping a spreadsheet - in fact I do the same thing, keeping track of weekly water tests. That way I can keep track of things, know what "normal" is for my tank, and detect when things go haywire. I use Google sheets, which is all in the cloud and accessible from my phone, easy peasy to record the data.
04:32 you need the sandwich bag trick in your life! You just gently shimmy a little plastic bag (e.g. sandwich bag, empty bread bag etc.) under and around the outside of the spongefilter, then carefully lift out the bag from the top catching the filter along with whatever water is in the bag - and all the debris that clouds off the sponge the moment you disturb it. Then you have a bag of tank water ready for cleaning debris from the sponge, and no need to wait two days for your water to clear up properly, or else half-clog your filter up again trying to clear all the debris from the water after you just got done cleaning your filter. :)
Nice tip :)
I know this video is a little older but I loved it! I'm moving into a permanent house soon and I'm hoping to start my first ever fish tank. I can't stop binging videos and I want to give it a go, but the maintenance had always been super intimidating to me, but this video made it look pretty simple and I'm sure after doing it for a while it'll become easier
Thank you for this video. I really appreciate that you explained what you are doing and why. I would like to have a planted tank. I think I could do it now because of this video. I will also watch for your others. Thanks so much ♥
Irene, what a great video. Very informative and super helpful. I have been keeping plants for years and am learning new things from you all the time! Thank you! Also attack on Titan!!!! Let’s gooo!! Haha big fan myself. Tank looking beautiful, keep up the amazing work🙌🏼🙌🏼
Thank you for taking the time!’
Your videos are so helpful! Thank you!!
Thank you for such a wonderful tutorial video! It's really helpful to hear your experiences! :D
You're an awesome super nerd. Have a wonderful, fun, safe vacation. Stay well.
The XS z a/
This is a really good guide
Great Job! Precisely how I do mine.
I love the way how you control the water way of the siphon to release that red platy fry!!
Me too! It’s really cool! Platies are cool too! Do you keep Platies? 😃
I just use an old fashioned system for my tank maintence (I only have 2 tanks tho). I just use a notebook & write what I to each tank & the date I do it. I can never remember what exactly I do or when I do/did it, so all I have to do is look back at my notebook. Works for me & helps keep me straight & my fish healthy & happy !
I Really like your videos irene HUGE fan by the way❤❤
OML 100k subs I haven't watched a video in a while but i remember you at like 15 k, thats amazing
Thanks for another great video. i have approx 35 tanks and all planted and they do great. i am contemplating co2 on a couple of tanks but nervous. My Fish room is a lot of work and really enjoy your tips to try and save some time where i can. Eddie
Nice tank. All my stem plants need a hair cut. LOL. I recently set up a new planted tank. For the first time, I set it up with root tabs in the substrate. My plants are happy plants! I didn’t realize how much of a difference just adding root tabs would make.
Wow prefect timing!
I was just taking a 10 break in between maintenance😂
Thanks for the reminder to keep a record of conditions and dates. I always tell myself I'll remember when I dosed fertilizers but that's a lie! I definitely need to start keeping a record
Cheers just nice and a nice video as always, and i am in process of setting my 2x 3ft aquscape planted tank :D and attack of titans is super addictive as well
Wow, thanks girl for uploding this amazing 🎬🌿🐟🌊☯️☮♻️😊🐕😄
i always love the videos keep it up
I keep a safety pin in with my bag of root tabs, and poke a hole in each end so they won't pop out.
Perfect timing!
Wish you could post pictures in comments, lol.
My tank needed a minor overhaul.
I wish we could post pictures on comments too! What fish do you keep in your tank? 😃
@@Aquafinity I have a pico tank of amphopods, a dedicated snail tank, a turtle with a guppy 'pond' in her enclosure, I breed zebra danios, and I am working on developing a line of guppies.
I have downsized over the past couple decades.😅
Im sorry, Irene- I didn’t understand the correlation between gas bubbles in the substrate, & the air stone & sponge filter. What does the former have to do with the latter? If you get the chance to explain that further, it might help me understand. I know that I, for one, would really appreciate it! Love your videos and you’re an absolute doll!! Thank you so much!
I'm definitely not Irene but I can tell you the gas bubbles in the substrate can sometimes be harmful gasses that build up and when released can harm your fish in your tank. The air stone and sponge filter help mitigate this problem because they creat surface agitation which allows for more bad gasses to leave the tank and more good gasses to enter
I believe Irene is referring to the nitrogen gas that anaerobic bacteria release! Regards
The gas bubble go straight up to the surface and pop and expell anyway. Nothing to worry about. Some people worry about this.
Excellent!
“One more for good luck.” 😂 we are all the same.
I love the shyness of your dog when caught on camera.........
Haha, she was like, "What did I do, Mom?"
Love that laugh when the fry wouldn't leave the syphon 😂
Your kuhli is so active ;)
The intro is so much better you should do you videos like that all the time
I'll let my editor TF know!
Great Video! Thank you so much for the information and Fun 😀 What light do you use on this tank? Very beautiful setup!
Thank you so much! It's a Fluval 3.0 Plant LED light amzn.to/38AS8ip
That long hose system is pretty nifty. Buckets may be easier for me. Gonna have to think about it
Totally useful idea to use a spreadsheet (eg Office Excel, Libreoffice Calc), they're great to see trends and keep long term records, in aquariums. Technical people will need little coaxing. For the non technical person, the benefits of the tool across many types of tasks (eg casual book keeping, fitness and health statistics, any kind of comparison tallying) make learning how to use spreadsheets a useful challenge. But it's definitely not for everyone.
I really love this!!!
I just love you talking
I used a magic eraser on the go glass. I works Brilliantly.
Loved the last step i cant say how many times the slime on the top of my tanks has annoyed me and no else has given any ideas to remove it much better
First omg! My tank was overgrown too but luckily we have goldfish so I won't have problems abt it for now...
Irene can you please do a video regarding nitrates and fertilizer? You have mentioned this in several of your videos over time and I don't understand what you mean by this. Thank you! Love your videos 💓
Nice shout out on Attack on Titan! love your vids.
P.S; your eye make up is always beautiful.
TY for the video. Where can I get that "widget" (at the to top of the faucet python green piece) that quick connects (chrome thing at top). Has a green lip at top chrome on rest
I need to get one of those long tubes. I hate having to keep going to the sink for water changes.
02:39 The water drip effect was smooth 🙂
Love your videos. Are you watching the final season of AoT?
Quick tip for fish keepers
If u use poly fill for filtration and u decide to change it don’t throw away the filter floss . Instead clean it really well and use it to scrub/clean your glass of the aquarium. Trust me i have tried using razors and they clean the glass pretty well but they don’t give the side glass the mirror look i hope this comment helps u
Ooo, I might have to try that trick, at least for the areas higher away from the substrate.
@@GirlTalksFish when u use razors they leave marks when u don’t clean it properly
But with filter floss it cleans with ease and it doesn’t leave any marks of lime or algea
Wish I could get my plants to grow like that
Cool
Hi Irene I have the same issue with super low Nitrate levels in my planted tank. Do you have any other solutions despite fertilizers and feeding more fish food?
I’m going to give those root tabs a try…I’ve used another brand that resemble fizz tablets and they break apart and release a lot of particles in the water when putting them in :/
Aquarium Co-Op tabs are the best! And as others have said, good tip to poke a small hole at the ends to let the air escape so they don’t float up out of the substrate.
7:55 What is that quick-connect adapter that you have on the Python to connect it to the sink faucet? Where did you get it and how did you install it? Did you make a video about it?
Yesi was wondering the same thing. I need one. I cant remove the cap from my faucet. Its stuck!
@@a2thenita172 Yeah, it's a lot more difficult to connect a python to the newer faucets.
I was wondering the same about the "do-dad thingy" that came with the python. Is that something new?
Can you make a video on how you do the spreadsheets?
omg i do the "1 more for good luck" too!!! 😂 i just get so scared! what if the standard amount not enough!?!?
Fish for thought should do a collab with you
We actually did one a while ago! I interviewed him for my channel about his experiences as a pet store employee, and then I taught about honey gourami care on his channel.
I only have two really tiny java fern in my 5 gallon betta tank. Is there anything that I can put in my tank that is way bigger and cheeper because i got my java ferns for $12 and there probally the same size when I bought them.
What is the CO2 injector that you use for this 20GAL tank? And thank you for all your videos, they've been extremely helpful!!
Hello! My water is super soft as well and I currently only have an anubia barteri coffeefolia and a nana in a new cycling tank (30 liters) how much should I aim my water hardness to be? is it bad if I accidentally overdose it? I have seachem's equilibrium, but for small doses it's so hard to measure their products
Also, please let me know the brand of your thermometer or is it part of the heater? Please include a link. Thank you!!!
What is that adapter on top of the python doo-dad at 8:00 called? I need help adapting to a sink
Attack on titan is awsome one of my favorites
What kind of tank stand do you have? Ive been trying to find one for my 29 gallon and Ive read so many mixed reviews :(
Question about the 0 nitrate and plants. What can one do to fertilize the plants? Should the nitrate and nitrite go up?
Irene, could you please link the connection you used for the python hone/sink connection. Im unable to remove my aerator, but still would like to uses the python!!!
I have a serious problem with Green Spot algae, I have a nerite snail aswell to help get rid of it because it takes a very long time to scrub it off with a toothbrush because I am too lazy to get anything else to clean it (I know it needs micronutrients and I’m supposed to go get them this week)
Have you tried ramshorn snails or cherry shrimps? They're good at fending off spot algae on my Anubias.
Magic Eraser gets green spot cleaned pretty easy
Gsa solution is upping your phosphate levels and/or lowering the light intensity (wattage not duration) Dont worry its not toxic, you can easily go up to 4-5 ppm. For scraping without ruining your glass with scrapes, I suggest filter floss and a fit and strong arm/fingers.
What about the fish poop. Do you need to gravel vac that or does the plant handle it?
I never gravel vac my tanks either. Ever. 😂😂
Why
part Hi Kitty...I'm fairly new to aquariums. I thought it was a "must do" part of aquarium cleaning, so I'm very curious about this concept. Can you give me some info on this? Thanks.
@@reefhugger100 I don't gravel vac my tank because it doesn't need it. Snails, bottom scavenging fish, sand capped substrate and a lot of plants means you don't really get much mulm build-up.
@@bluegum6438 Thanks for the reply. This is a fascinating hobby. I learn something new daily. I used gravel instead of sand so mulm does build up some, but I'm using lots of plants and have fallen in love with mystery snails. So as you pointed out vacuuming isn't needed as much in this tank. Thanks again
I skipped the python method as I saw kaveman aquatics talk about the pump method as an evolution from the python, and I hadn't even heard of the python. I was using a siphon with a manual pump in the middle from fluval brand, it's great, but with buckets, I didn't like the spills and carrying buckets manually, so the pump is great, put pump in the tank, hose end into the back yard, plug in pump and watch it drain. Fill large container in bathtub with water up to the volume needed (I use a 100 litre because my 60W pump is a bit large and must stay submersed, I usually need to refill 50l from a 90litre tank change, check temp with a thermometer, put hose end in tank with a clip to stop it coming out, plug in and pump back in.
Hey, Irene! My 50 ft python siphon comes in tomorrow and something I've been wondering is how do you clean/disinfect it? I've watched videos of people talking about how they do it but I am having a hard time visualizing it.
Hmm, I don't think I've ever cleaned my 50 foot one, but for my shorter siphons, I basically clean them when I'm disinfecting a tank or quarantine tub. I put the tank inside my bathtub, make a diluted bleach mixture inside it, and then start siphoning out the bleach water from the tank to the bathtub. Then I flush the siphon with some tap water. Finally, I hang the siphon until it's completely dry.
For my 50-foot siphon, I generally use it to siphon out dirty water. Then I connect it to a sink and flush it with tap water until the tank is full again. Then I store it in my dark, cool basement. So far it hasn't gotten moldy, but if it does one day, I may try the bleach method above and then not sure how I would make sure it was completely dry. My husband does have an air compressor... 🤔
@@GirlTalksFish Thank you for the feedback! I'm in love with the large siphon. If I feel the need to clean it I will let you know how it works out XD