# HABU's fish tank cleaning thread...



## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

well boys and girls, i'm going to clean out my 65 gallon aquarium. it needs a spring overhaul.... i've let it go for a month or so and now i need to gut the whole thing from top to bottom... i'll be posting pics as i go at it....yes, i'm that bored..... i'll be at it all day.....so, stay tuned...

here's the tank as it looks right now.... all nasty and tangled....




click to enlarge....


let the games begin!


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

alright then.... first we need to clear off the tank top and get our gear together. my bucket, syphon and water conditioner.... i laid out some newspaper so as to be a little tidy.... i'll be sorting plants and things later.


i need to pull about 10 gallons out of the tank and clean the filter pads and glass aquarium lids.... you have to be careful with those glass tops....


notice how i rinse my filter pads in the waste water that i pulled from the tank....so as to not damage the bacteria.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

using my syphon to pull the water



 waste water from the tank



 rinsing filter media in the old water...


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

alright. i took my drift wood out and some rocks... i took the tops off and have them in the sink to be cleaned.... no soap here.

i also have the cruddy filter lids soaking....




now i need to srub the aquarium frame, inside glass, filter intakes and general algae cleaning....


.... this a boring thread?.... it gives me an excuse to take a break....:whistling2:


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## Jb1432 (Apr 19, 2008)

Nahh its good to see how your doing it all. Must be what 9:40 where you are? If it is you'll be done before 12! Its actually sunny in my town today! Not a cloud in the sky:2thumb:


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

cool! it's almost 10am here.... i'm taking my time... i just cleaned the versa-tops.... i use vinegar to get the hard water deposits off of the glass... you have to be very careful here... these are a pain to replace if you break one.... they have to be perfectly square to fit on the tank..




now the filter tops are clean and i'll now clean the gunky filter intakes...

also today i am going to clean and start-up my big canister filter... it's be idle for a while and is nasty..... it really does a good job after it is off and running....


more pics to follow.... i have to take out all the plants and sort them for replanting.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

well i've been a busy bee.... i'm cleaning the filters and frame.... the insides of the intake tubes need to be very clean... a little crap on the inside really creates turbulance... i use an old tooth brush and q-tips for the tight spots... a bottle brush is nice for things, i can't find mine... oh well... click to enlarge these pics.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

ok.... now to prime those filters and unplug the heater.... you have to let the heater cool a bit.... and i scrub..... if you get tired, i suggest some cracklin!


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## Aquai (Feb 11, 2009)

Hmmm crackling


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

my big fluval canister filter... i have to break that all down... it's attached to my u.v. sterilizer... a big pond-sized sterilizer....


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i got the plants pulled....


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

gotta love that petrified wood.....


so i've been scrubbing and wiping and vaccuuming the gravel.... i pulle everything out including the bigger rocks.... now with just gravel i have had to add fresh water into the tank as i syphoned the gravel.

you want all that crud that builds up in the gravel out of there.... you don't want to stir it up at all though.... nasty stuff can come out......


i use two milk jugs for fresh water..... a 5-gallon bucket for old water...


now i just let it run and settle and then syphon some more... you don't want too much fresh water in the tank too fast.... don't want the fish to be shocked.... little by little....

besides, i got plenty of cracklin....

:lol2:


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## chondro13 (Aug 18, 2008)

:lol2: i like this thread.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

whew! ok i have gone through all of my plants very carefully and pruned off all of the dead leaves and excess root and dead roots.... the amazon swords are really bad.... i cut them down to almost nothing.... plenty of rotten roots too.... yep! this tank needed some work.... ok, filters are all cleaned and running, heater is on.... driftwood and plants are all in the tank... now i'm working the plants back into the tank.... i have to let the filters run and clear the tank for a while. the filter pads and intakes need to be cleaned several times as they trap all the floaty's.. the gravel is clean.... i'll syphon it some more as things settle onto the bottom..... inside glass is clean... just some landscaping and fertilizing and this tank will be ready to take off! it's the begining of the growing season so in a month or so i'll need to prune them down again.... the swords will take over in no time.... they love to be replanted... it gets them going... i need to replace a tube light or two... mine are aging.... i may go buy a few more plant species this week... now that the tank has had it's spring cleaning..... i need to take some pictures.... i shall return....


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

ok, here are some pictures.... my camera's batteries are dying.... vaya con dios amigos....





oops!!! i stray shot there!






you have to scoop out all the floaty debris.... it'll end up on the intake strainers...



my water conditioner and some general fertilizer



it's getting there! 


http://img146.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=84876_100_0280_122_170lo.jpg 

hey a pic of my front yard that i found..





my jurrassic fish.... he's too cool.


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Very cool Habu! Nicely done  Nice crackling...


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

AshMashMash said:


> Very cool Habu! Nicely done  Nice crackling...


 why thanks! i was wondering if anyone was tuned to my channel here... hehe!

i have much more to do... i'm just planting and prunning... it has to clear up some more and i need to vaccuum the detritus up and re-rinse the filters and intakes.... i was going to talk about my planting technique....

now i have a huge glare in where the tank is from the sun.... it's hard to see with that glare......


a few gallons out and a few gallons in...... i'm flushing the tank gradually rather than just changing some water.... you just have to ease the fish into it slowly.


so i have time to kill right now.... since you made a nice post i'll share my snack with you.... here's a chicken nugget.... an american chicken nugget....



enjoy!:lol2:

oh and here's peaches again.... i found her pic while i was goofing around here....


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

one of my cool rocks... i've had that one for years....




now i have to clean this bad boy and get it back running again.... thye power went out a few months ago and the syphon was broken on this filter so i just unplugged it.... the water inside must be rancid by now...


fun, fun, fun!!


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Haha, I often lurk your threads Habu. Loving the chicken nugget! Send me one please? :lol2:

I also never knew you had a cockatoo :hmm:


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## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

Whoosh !!! all this would have gone over the heads of the majority of todays fishkeepers you belong to a better era my friend people that developed fishy fingers.

I salute you and all you know it`s like looking in a knowledge mirror as far as i`m concerned ,almost brings a tear to my eye : victory:


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

This thread, beats awesomeness and randomness!, its Haburanawesomeness!!! LOL


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

sorry about being away... i had to work on the tank some more...

i finally decided to change that old sponge in my aquaclear filter.... 


i have two sponges in my aquaclear and i stagger the replacement of them.... when they finally begin to fall apart from old age, i swap the out one out.

now screw buying a new sponge.... way over priced.... i just got some old sponge from an old filter and cut them to size..... then i sandwhich them together so the new sponge will get innoculated with the nice, old bacteria that lives on the sponges.....






oh here are what most of the rocks here look like. these are in all the creeks.... they vary from light tan to blood red.... every shade in between... i got these in the creek by my place.... they'd charge good money in a pet shop for these kind of rocks.... they look even better when they get wet...



break time....:whistling2:


ok, the sun is going down and the glare is gone....


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

:whistling2:


here's a congo tetra of mine.... it was almost fry when i bought them.... he's every bit of 3 inches long..... i recommend congos highly.... they aren't much to look at when they are small but the males really become excellent when they mature....






i have to go through all this wisteria.... it's a tangle.... this stuff grows and grows..... you have to stay on it.... it adds texture though to the plant landscape....


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Great thread, Habu. Really enjoying it so far and I'm looking forward to the end result. : victory:


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i have to finish up tomorrow.... just some fine tuning left...

my camera needs batteries... in the morning i'll be done.


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Fair deuce to you for doing all that work though. I wouldn't be arsed...:lol2:


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

Trillian said:


> Fair deuce to you for doing all that work though. I wouldn't be arsed...:lol2:


 haha! yeah, replacing the water in this tank with gallon milk jugs gets old after the 30th jug or so..... i can't fill the bucket so it's a gallon at a time...

it looks nice now though.... i gave it a serious haircut!


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i'm all finished with the tank now.... it's looking good. the plants will start growing like mad now. i have them fed and the sunlight lasts longer everyday. the leaves need a few days to straighten out now. i gave my planted tank a serious crew cut!:2thumb: wait one month from now and we'll see how much it has grown.

... i'm getting a few fish and a couple of plants this week...


i could post a few pics of the tank now that i have some batteries for the camera...


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)




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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

WOW, thats amazing Habu. Great tank!. What fish you looking at getting?


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Tis looking very cool Habu


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

those shots were the after shots...



here's a before shot that i took right before spring cleaning...
(click the pics to show full size.)


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

HABU said:


> those shots were the after shots...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I knows Habu  I've been following the thread  

I need me a tank :hmm:


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

AshMashMash said:


> I knows Habu  I've been following the thread
> 
> I need me a tank :hmm:


 haha! i knew that!......well i never know who else may be passing through these parts....


i could have gotten all technical though with exactly what i was doing and why i was doing it and what i was aware of while i posted.
but i wanted to keep it light.... i was hoping to show how simple renovating a tank can be. a simpleton like me does this stuff all the time. :lol2:

i had fun posting as i went along.... but then i'm a person that will re-do a tank just for fun... i would hate not being able to change everything...that gets old.

*my public service announcement:*
... tanks are a piece of cake... if you know the chemistry and use it, then the biology and chemistry will take care of themselves.... _*HABU*_:lol2:


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

To use an Americanism, Habu - "Good Job!" :2thumb:



AshMashMash said:


> I need me a tank...


Yes, you do. But then again, here I am on a Reptile forum and I don't have any reptiles...:lol2:


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

this has been the best thread I have read through in a long time. :no1:

Thanks Habu for all your time and effort!

Pork scratchings rule!


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

HABU said:


> haha! i knew that!......well i never know who else may be passing through these parts....


Hah, fair enough! 



Trillian said:


> Yes, you do. But then again, here I am on a Reptile forum and I don't have any reptiles...:lol2:


LOL, so true. I have a pond with some fish in... so I am allowed in this section :no1::lol2:


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

AshMashMash said:


> LOL, so true. I have a pond with some fish in... so I am allowed in this section


Plus


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Trillian said:


> Plus


Hahaha, as do you Trils :flrt:


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

AshMashMash said:


> Hahaha, as do you Trills


:2thumb:


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