Question: How do you clean a big tank?

[Olivia97]

I'm about to upgrade my tank to probably a 4"x1" but, i just had this thought, how do i clean it?! My lotls are very dirty little creatures and although i have good quality filter i'm not sure it could cope with that amount of gunk in a bigger tank... any suggestions or what you guys do?

 

[Greatwtehunter]

I use a siphon tube and a bucket. This allows me to remove large amounts of waste using minimum amount of time and effort.

 

[Harpii]

We have a 175 gal tank which is about 4 foot by 1 foot maybe a bit bigger and its quite deep, we use a siphon tube and a bucket, its the easiest way to clean the substrate and doesnt take very long to do a 20% change its the re-filling that takes the most effort!

 

[Harpii]

We have a 175 gal tank

175 litre tank lol not gallons

 

[Minniechild]

Yup to the siphon method! Although I'm moving to a Walstad-esque setup so I can avoid pooper-scoopering all together

 

[melr70]

Hi Olivia, I too use a syphon and buckets. I have a 6ftx2ftx2ft with six axolotls. I syphon out six 15litre buckets (I use three buckets so it's quicker,) scrub the glass and then refill.

 

[mikeg]

Same. I use a siphon and a wine bucket. If you buy sugar grain sand, which is really heavy, you can actually siphon off a thin layer of the sand. It will make cleaning easier; when you empty the bucket, pour the water out on the side instead of flipping it upside down and the sand will stay. Let the sand sit in the bucket for a day until it dries and just pour it back into the tank.

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

I think it's definitely a big "YES" to the siphon and bucket method - I know I would be lost without mine as my tanks are huge! When my tanks were first filled (a long time ago!) I used a jug just to change the water but obviously as time goes on a lot of gunk and debris can build up so a siphon will be your god send!

 

[Olivia97]

I thought so, that's what I have used in my smaller tanks, just wanted to hear everyone else's opinions