How should I clean a fishtank (+rocks+ornaments) for storage so that it will still be safe for new fish later?
DO NOT USE DISH SOAP! It does not rinse cleanly away, especially on porous surfaces like rocks and silk plants. The only safe thing to use is vinegar, and even then you must rinse very well after washing. Use your algae scrubber and vinegar to clean the tank itself. use a toothbrush with or without vinegar to clean the rocks and plastic plants. Silk plants are actually easier to clean if you let them dry out, and then use a dry toothbrush to brush off and dried out algae. Rinse your gravel several times, then lay it out in the sun on a trash bag to dry out. If you have any snails, make sure it is totally dry. Snails can survive in damp gravel for weeks. When you store your tank, make sure it does not get in any direct sunlight, it will make the plastic cloudy-looking. Make sure everything is dry before storing, and put it in a place that won't get too dusty. About the only thing that might not store well is if you have natural driftwood in your tank. Anything plastic/resin/stone will store perfectly, and will need nothing more than a quick rinse to make it ready to use again.
How often should I buy new fish tank Ornaments to replace the old one?
You may find natural decoration to be better. I avoid most artificial decorations especially painted ones because they do fade over time and I worry that fish like plecos and other algae eaters are rasping off the paint and digesting it along with the algae. If it lost its color in just three months, I would worry more. Remove the cave, and do a partial water change - around 40% of the water. This may help the cloudiness. If it's a new tank, the cloudiness can be caused by bacteria forming and dying in the tank. If you don't have a water testing kit, stores like Petco and PetSmart will test your water for free and tell you if you have a Ph or ammonia problem, usually associated with new tank syndrome. Even natural decorations like driftwood may need to be replaced from time to time, but three months is much to fast for an item to start to break down. If you like something that the fish can swim through, you can get a natural rainbow rock with holes, which are sold in many aquarium stores. They won't fade or break down, but you may have to turn them over once in a while since algae can form on them. I flip these rocks over so the bright clean side can be seen and the algae side is hidden in the gravel. When algae forms again, flip it over, and the side that used to have algae before will be clean.
Do you have to wash an airstone before putting it into the fish tank?
To be on the safe side you can but it is not mandatory.
I cleaned out my fish tank completely, how long should i wait to put my betta back in?
You don't have to wait, just put him in. Float the cup he's sitting in, inside the tank, to let the temperature match, for about half an hour. Then let him out. In the future, you don't have to do that, you can simply change out half the water without removing him from the tank. I used to do that with my bettas, I'd change out all the water once a week, scoop him up in a cup, empty it, clean everything, then put him back in... took me awhile to learn it's unnecessary. Dechlorinators work immediately, you don't have to wait at all for htem. Robert B is wrong, sorry, dechlorinators work immediately, they remove all chlorine and chloramine, you don't need to wait 24 hours for them to work certainly!! That's ridiculous!! The old advice about leaving water to sit for 24 hours came from way back when they used to only add chlorine to tapwater and to remove it, people would just let the water sit and it would evaporate. But these days they use something else called chloramine, which does NOT evaporate and MUST be removed with a dechlorinator. I'm guessing Robert B is an old timer? The most you have to do to let the temperature match is float the fish in its cup inside the tank to let the temperature of the water he's in slowly come to the same temperature as the tank water. You don't want to leave him in the cup - it will be very stressful as he'll be swimming in his own wastes, the ammonia levels will definitely rise if he stays in there for a day!!! It will be much less stressful for him to be back in the tank as soon as possible.
How long to wait after bleaching to put in a fish tank?
Hey again I got another question I have decor for my fish tank and I bleached it because it was really dirty and nasty and I whould love to know when safe to put it back in my fish tank
How do you clean a 29 or 30 gallon fish tank?
I have 3 female fancy guppies and 1 male fancy guppy i bought online and wanted to breed them so the fry could have devine colors. I just have a problem of cleaning my 29 gallon fish tank. help me please! could use all the help i can get. i just want to be prepared for the future