Frankly, I have NO idea how anybody keeps a fish tank clean ... we've had the one fish (Goldie ... who is still with us as of today) for several years, and her first 3 tanks were ALWAYS murky ... I used to have to change out 80-90% of the water EVERY WEEK to keep those so you would even know there WAS a fish in them. Ever since we bought the big 20 gallon tank, things got a bit easier ... I guess there finally got to be enough bacteria (or whatever) down in the stones to keep the particulate matter to a dull roar. Due to lighting conditions in the summer, however, the was always a LOT of algae on the sides. I think this was ultimately what did in Fred ... the algae had completely blocked the filtering thing, but I hadn't noticed until seeing Fred floating. I feel pretty guilty, since cleaning the tank has been on my endless to-do list for weeks now, had I been able to "pull the trigger on it" last week, Fred would still be alive today. I'd been checking the tank every day or so to see how the water was, but I hadn't looked at the filter. Having the water stay clear for long periods lulled me into thinking everything was OK.
Anybody know how to keep tanks clear? Hell ... even after I've CLEANED the tank, it still doesn't look as clean as ANY tank I've seen in a fish shop. The combination of algae build-up on the sides and the evaporation lines (and who knows what else is caked on there) are so hard to scrub off ... plus, everything I've ever read about "changing the water" says to change 10% of it ... which does NOTHING for a tank you can't see 2" into! Most of the time I siphon off all but the last 3-4" of water in the tank (just enough for the fish to stay) and then refill with a fresh 15+ gallons. Like I said ... this fish project was NOT my idea (it started out with a 1/2 gallon table-top "aquarium" and one of those blue/red "curtain" fish ... I don't recall what they're called ... "Red" lasted under a week in that, to be replaced by "Goldie" who was about 1" at that time ... now about 5"), so I'm not real interested in building up a "hobby" of this, but it bugs the shit out of me when the pets start dying.
You know what also bugs the shit out of me? The god-damned scum-sucking motherfuckers at Winstar have had all my files on MCS.net 404 almost all week ... which is why this link here doesn't say "BTRIPP" and doesn't go anywhere ...