The Puffer Forum

1) do not wash the gravel in tap water. The tap water contains chlorine and that kills the beneficial bacteria.

Get a gravel vacuum / siphon and gently go over the surface of the gravel once. Then to do a deep clean, sink the mouth of they siphon into the gravel and let it rest until it becomes clear. Then move on to the next spot.

2) do not rinse your sponge and pumice (bio-filter) in tap water (same reason as above). in the bucket of water that you siphoned off you can rinse them in there and place it back into the filter.

3) dump that dirty water and replace with clean water. Do this in the same bucket you used for the dirty water and add the dechlorinator to that. Let that bucket rest for at least 1 hour (or up to the same temperature) before adding it to the tank. THEN add the fish.

10~20% water changes / cleaning done every week... but knowing your fish ... 50% + is better. Just don't rinse the sponge, pumice & gravel in the tap water.

On the topic of cloudy water:

white cloudy = danger ... usually means an ammonia build up because you just trashed your bio filter. This means your tank is cycling again and you should do water changes more frequently (but no cleaning). OR your bio filter can not keep up with the waste that is in the tank (fish waste and uneaten food). Remedy: more frequent smaller water changes.

Brown algae = diatoms. Usually happens after high water changes and the nutrient rich water feeds the diatoms. This will balance itself out after a while and they can be removed with a simple scrubber. You are going to get wet as you are not removing any water from the tank while cleaning. Also could mean a light / nutrient imbalance adjust the lights and or black out the tank for 48 hour periods.

Green water ... I don't think you have that problem, and BGA (blue green algae) is UGLY but is actually helpful in some ways. Always a lighting / nutrient issue.

If you do this you should never need a "clumping agent" to clarify the water.

There are 3 levels in your filter:

1) Mechanical - sponge Never rinse in tap water... use the old tank water you siphoned off

2) Biological - pummice Never rinse in tap water ... use the tank water you siphoned off

3) Mechanical / chemical Floss (mechanical) and or Charcoal (chemical) both of these are used to "polish" the water. Charcoal has the added benefit of removing medicine and chemicals. It also has the added $$. If you are not medicating there is really no need for it, but that is a personal choice. Floss needs to be replaced every few days or when it turns brown. Charcoal needs to be replaced every 2~3 weeks. Because of the high cost of charcoal, I vote for floss.

Hope this helps
J-P
TTYL!!