Breaking Down the Tank-Need Advise

July 13, 2008 @ 11:19 am · Filed under AquaticLife

I’m glad it’s a Sunday, somebody will hopefully have enough time to give me detailed answers. I’m breaking my 20 g down this week, to remove the polyster layer between the gravel and the UGF plate for good. Then I’ll set it up again in the same day.
It’s my first time to fully clean a tank since I knew about the nitrogen cycle and the N-Bacteria. I used to lose at least one of my fish every single time I fully cleaned the tank, and didn’t know why. That’s because I rinsed the gravel under untreated tap water, and also the internal power head filter. So I need to be really careful this time to keep a good portion of my N-Bacteria alive.
Here’s the information: *I have two filters: Internal “with power head” and UGF “also with a power head”. * Layers, from the buttom: UGF plate covers all the buttom - polyster layer “will be thrown away” - Small and medium sized gravel. * There are decorations: live plants, drift wood, rocks. * The volume of the water is about 16 g. * There’s an empty 15 gallon tank that can be cleaned from dust and old gravel and be used to house the fish while cleaning.
Note: There’s a photo of my tank in the photo section. http://pets.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife/photos/view/e87a?b=1 If the link breaks, just look for the album 20G Planted fish tank- By Noura)
I need a plan for cleaning with the minimum loss of the N-bacteria, especially in the gravel, I can keep the internal filter without cleaning for a week after breaking the tank down. The gravel will need a LOT of water to clean, because I wasn’t siphoning it at all (I didn’t even know it needs siphoning untill I joined you, and there are no tank siphons in the country), so you can imagine the mulm of the overstocked tank.
And, how much of the old tank water should I put back after cleaning? I have TWO 4 gallon chemical-clean buckets, and a long hose.
The sooner you reply the better, I’m planning to do it today as my daughter is visiting her grandmother!
Thanks for the advise Noura