Hey everyone,
Steve Poland here.
And a recent video by a fellow hobbyist reminded me that I was overdue for a deep cleaning
and rescape on my 125 gallon all male African Cichlid aquarium.
I've always planned to remove some of the rocks as the fish got bigger,
and it's also a good idea to remove all of your rockwork periodically and deep clean
the tank to remove the solid waste that's impossible to hit with a siphon or gravel
vac during regular maintenance.
My first step was to remove as much debris as I could using the python.
This is similar to what I would normally do during a water change.
I then removed each rock and placed it on a
tarp on my floor to avoid getting the carpet wet.
I then went through with the python again to get the sand as clean as I could.
This is the most important part of the process and I think it's important to take as much
time as necessary.
The fish may be a bit stressed but they will be happier in the long run.
I then hooked up my pump to keep the water draining while I used a sponge to clean the
inside of the glass.
My bristlenose plecos keep it pretty clean but I still do this every time I do a water
change.
Then it was time to put the rocks back in the tank.
Since the whole goal was to give the fish more swimming space, I picked the five largest
rocks and spread them out over the length of the tanks.
The extra rocks will either go into another tank or into storage.
Once I was satisfied with how it looked, I removed the pump and did another quick vacuum
to hit anything that I had either missed or stirred up during the adding of the rocks.
Finally, I added my Seachem Safe and and began refilling the tank.
As much as I loved the rockwork before, with large peacocks and haps it's really not an
ideal setup and I think that this will work much before for them in the long term.
As always, I'd love to hear from you down in the comments,
and if this is your first time here then I would love to have you subscribe.
Because each week I bring you a new video sharing my experiences in the aquarium hobby.
I give updates on my tanks, review products, show you DIY projects
and share tips and tricks to help you take your tank to the next level.
Hit subscribe to follow along.
Have a good one!