# How often to clean african cichlid tank?



## stranger23 (May 10, 2010)

ok im looking into cleaning tanks for companies and rang this one company today who said they clean their african ciclid tank ONCE A YEAR!!! and they do the filter every 6 months???? how can the fish survive this? ive got 11 fish tanks in my home i dont claim to know everything about every species but all of my tanks get a water change every 2/4 weeks depending on the filter and size and whats in there etc but i dont see how this company is keeping its fish alive with only cleaning it out once a year and if they clean the filter every 6 months surely they are not doing it i the aquarium water when i tried to explain how i know how to clean a tank he got abusive to me and told me my prices were stupidly high! ok i dont think £60 per month is stupid when we will replace any fish, ornaments and equipment when needed and also will take sick fish away to quarantine and give them healthy stock in there place. How is there still fish in this tank and i know that its not in a great way as a friend of mine saw it and said it needed a clean which is why i rang them


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

you talking about malawi cichlids?


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## stranger23 (May 10, 2010)

The bloke just called them african cichlids from what ive read on the net its still the basic 10% every week change for them


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## XBexs123 (Jun 13, 2010)

Once a year?! That's horrible. How they survive I do not know! I do a big big clean on mine every 2 weeks.


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## stranger23 (May 10, 2010)

I really want to help the poor fish but not sure what i can do about it they are not going to let me in to sort it out as they think i charge to much and i think even if i did it for free they wouldnt let me sort it out as "they know everything"


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Have they got a super set of filters that don't require any further maintenance? A secret new automatic cleaning device that turns the coral sand and hoovers up the mess? If so, I WANT ONE!!!!!

I clean and water change my tanks every 1-2 weeks depending on my water parameters and filtration system etc 

Cichlid tank ( malawi and mbuna ) just been cleaned and redecorated today - pointless though as my female greshakei and male fuelleborni kill it in seconds!!1


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## stranger23 (May 10, 2010)

He said it was a good filter but even my external filter isnt that great! maybe we should break in and steal this fab new technology so we can all have a filter like theirs! i think he was a bit put out from me telling him how to clean a tank correctly saying i didnt know anything my 11 fish tanks that are kept well disagree with him and ok he has had the tank for 6 years i bet he is replacing stock all the time and he must have gone fantastic magnet as mine doesnt clean every scrap on algae if i leave it for more than week, i know his tank isnt clean tho as a friend has seen it and said its green! I feel so sorry for the fish!


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## Assaye (Sep 23, 2009)

The main problem with be steady shifts in pH and high nitrates. Depends a lot on how big the tank is and what the filtration is like. In a mature tank there should be no problem with ammonia or nitrites and a steady shift in pH isn't dangerous really as long as it isn't too sudden and stays within the limits the animals need. 

There are also ways of keeping the pH balanced and the nirates down without water changes. 

However, I would be wary of this tank and feel on instinct that it probably isn't very healthy.


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## hayley13 (May 27, 2010)

i cant believe that the fish arent dead once a year is horrible no fish should be treated like that


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## stranger23 (May 10, 2010)

I know its awful but what can i do about it? i really want to sort it out but they wont let me claiming i know nothing about fish! At least i know how to keep my fish happy and healthy!


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## hayley13 (May 27, 2010)

i dont know what you could do its just wrong


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