How can I clean the bottom of the tank without disturbing the fish?

[ChienHsu]

Hi!

I have a bb tank. When I use the Python no-spill to vaccum out the feces at the buttom of tha tank, my discus are all gathering at the conrner. It seems they are scared. Can anyone tell what should I do to vaccum out the feces without scaring the fish?

Thanks in advanced,

Chien

[DarkDiscus]

Chien,

Mine do the same thing. They get used to it over time and eventually will swim around your arm and the siphon hose looking for any food that gets stirred up...

The more WC you do the more used to it they get!

John

[shootingstar]

DOES YOUR DISCUS GETTING DARK IN COLOR AFTER THE WATER CHANGED ?


COUPLE OF MINE BLUE DIAMOND DO THAT.

[ChienHsu]

Thanks John.

Hi! shootingstar: No my discus do not change the color.

Chien

[jeep]

My fish act as if the sky is falling. They act absolutley terrified, but there's really no alternative. Just be a gentle as possible...

[EthanCote.com]

I recalled reading somewhere on Simply that you can try to place the hose in your tank perhaps half an hour before you do WC. This way the fish get use to the hose and won't be as terrified.

Also if you have alot of plants or stuffs for your Discus to hide I find it makes them more timid (just an observation).

Also time is a factor in adjusting them to your daily WC routine so they won't be too stressed once they get used to it.

I have my fishes for about 2 months now and they seems to enjoy the WC now in that they will try to peck at the stuffs that gets sucked up by the hose as opposed to before where they would run and hide.

Be patient and they will come around. A neat trick might be to feed them a bit of their fav food after a WC, this way they will equate WC=good food ;D


Cheers,

Chi.

[korbi_doc]

Hi all, my fish will do the same thing, Chi, chasing the material that's sucked up & following the plastic cylinder. Some do still go back & hide, but come out right away when finished. They also seem to know when I'm going to w/c as I approach the tank, so they're much more aware than we sometimes think they are. & mine also play in the waterfall from the Lifeguard & UV. I've stopped worrying 'bout this behavior & just go on & do whatever is needed, but I do admit that early on, I was very concerned about it. lol, Dottie : : :

[EthanCote.com]

hehe

Hi Dottie,

Yup at first, mine tend to hide a lot but would come out when I'm done. But what I normally do before the WC is to show them the buckets I would used to gather the water. I show them this before each WC and I guess they are used to seeing the buckets along with the hose and know when a WC will take place.


Cheers,

Chi.

[nalah]

do what i do...use the net to scoop . then put syphon to one end and fish will go to other end. all adults now used to it.... TOO used to it actually. little buggars wont get out of the way....
but give them a few worms when you do it. they associate your hose with their worms and after a while,they really dont care.... just dont forget the worms or they'll hound you.LOL

Yup... My experience as well. Now them little buggers won't move out of the way. Once I vaccumed up my runt, and was frantic when she was doing whirllies in the python vac. Poor thing... Took her a good week to finally trust me again....

Give them time. They will adjust! Then you will wish they just would huddle in the corner again.... :-\

Julz

[ronrca]

LOL Julz! I had that happen a couple of times! Either the discus dont care or they like it or maybe it was a different one everytime. Usually all of them huddle in the corner waiting for a clean tank again. When I come to the corner, I have to push them out of the way to vacuum in the corner they are in!