The Best Way to Clean Aquarium Rocks

General Tips

• Be sure to stick to a schedule of regular water changes. Allowing algae and sediment to build up over time leads to heavy soiling, which is much harder to clean up. Adding bottom feeders to your tank can also help keep aquarium rocks cleaner because they will eat algae and other particulates. Finally, don't overfeed the fish. Uneaten food will become sediment buildup, so don't feed the fish more than they will eat up in a few minutes at any one feeding.

  Never use soap or detergent when cleaning your fish tank because it will kill your fish.

Gravel

• For a freshwater aquarium with a gravel bottom, start by taking the fish out of the tank. Put them into a container of fresh water. Scoop the gravel out of the fish tank and into a strainer over a sink or bucket. Run clear water over the gravel while agitating it with your fingers or by shaking the strainer as the water runs through it. Tap water is chlorinated so it will also kill bacteria. Continue rinsing the gravel until the water runs clear. Hot water may get the gravel clean faster. Return the gravel to a clean aquarium with fresh water and then return the fish.

Live Rock/Substrate

• Live rock can be a bit more difficult to clean than the gravel of a freshwater tank because it must be done a little at a time if it is very dirty. Cleaning all of the rock at once can trigger what is called New Tank Syndrome. By removing all the bacteria at once, there is no longer enough bacteria to process the ammonia produced in the system, leading to a toxic environment for your fish. Therefore, if the aquarium is very dirty, clean one small section of the rock each week until you have finished all of the rock. The break in between gives the waste-eating bacteria in the dirty gravel time to recolonize the clean rock. To clean the rock, simply agitate the rock pieces in a bucket of salt water to rinse them clean. If the tank isn't very dirty you can use a turkey baster to blast debris out from between the rocks and let the aquarium's filtration system due the rest.

Decorative Rocks

• To clean larger decorative rock pieces, take them out of the aquarium and use a wire brush to scrub them under clean, hot water. Do not use soap or detergent of any kind because soap residue can contaminate your aquarium, harming the fish.