How to clean a Fluval Flex 32G aquarium
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- Ever wondered how to clean your flex aquarium? In this video I am presenting how I do the maintenance on my Fluval Flex 32G aquarium. I mainly show how to clean the pump as well as the whole filtration unit and provide small tips along the way.
By following the suggestions that I share in this video, you will find that cleaning your aquarium is super easy!
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#aquarium #aquariumtips #fluval
This is so helpful! I’ve had this tank for a few weeks and didn’t know where to start with maintenance. Thank you!
You're welcome!
I clean mine the exact same sequence. I add beneficial bacteria once per month when cleaning the filter chamber. Love the tank, except the distortion from the front glass when trying to decorate or clean inside.
I agree, have to take a few steps back when decorating or cleaning to make sure everything is alright!
Love the diy yogurt strainer idea. I’ve been using a colander but it doesn’t work on all my tanks. Brilliant! Just ordered this tank and stand. Thank you for this video!
Yeah haha I didn't find a proper colander so I made my own 😅 works really well too
@@DolbecAqua I’ve been keeping fish a long time and never seen anything like it. Great ingenuity. Now you need to do a diy lid prop for the Flex. I looked on Etsy but most are in the US and the shipping costs more than the props!
@@craniumrex4614 I actually also use the yogourt containers as temporary lid props 🤣😅 but thanks for the suggestion, I'll see what I can do
Thanks for the video. I’m planning on getting one of these tanks soon. Very helpful.
Glad it helped you!
Nice vidéo thanks
I’ve been struggling with cloudy water because my siphon is too big to fit in the smaller sections and I had no idea I had to take apart the entire filter to clean it. Now that I notice I’m going to try to at least clean the filter properly I’ve been able to clean the sponge filters and all of the artificial plants I have in my tanks and I’ve done a 50% water change in the water looks significantly better but it’s still a little bit cloudy. I’m gonna try cleaning the filter tonight and cross my fingers that it does the trick.
Hello Victoria, I've had that problem previously in some of my aquariums and unfortunately there's many things that can cause cloudy water and it can be hard to find the exact cause of the problem.
For me, I once forgot to put in dechlorinator when adding new water and another time it was because I accidently added too much fertilizers for the plants.
Doing some maintenance and water changes will help (as you've already noticed) and I hope that it'll be enough! However, if the problem comes back you might have to look into other parameters (ex. Number of fish, amount of food given, etc.) that can have an influence on the quality of the water.
Awesome video ! Thank you for showing these steps just picked up this tank and this is great info !!
You're welcome David!!
Superb - excellent setup and scaping dude! 👍🏻
Thanks!
Thanks !
I might have already asked but have you got any idea of how much a replacement bulb costs for this aquarium, thanks.
No worries! About 110 USD according to Fluval's website
why does the water level go lower than the rest of the tank, in the middle compartment where the filter is? Do I have to add water specifically to that part of the tank?
That happens when the pump ejects water slightly faster than it gets through the filter masses. Probably due to a sponge insert that is starting to be clogged up. Not a big issue unless the level gets super low and the filter runs dry but that's very unlikely to happen. You don't have to add water, simply rinse your filter masses or try raising or lowering the sponge insert a little. That's what I do when I notice it in my aquariums and it fixes the issue.
Great maintenance video, I'm soon to purchase one of these, could you tell me how many litres does it take in aquas oil to fill. Thanks. 👍
Thanks and great news! It's hard to tell how much substrate you need because it depends on the thickness, slope, aquascape, etc. wanted in your decor. When I did my aquascape I used two large (the biggest I found, I think it was 4 kg ea) of seachem flourite dark substrate. Overall, chances are that you might need more than you think and might also need more than 1 type of substrate (gravel, rocks, sand, substrate for plants, etc.). Susbtrate is always good so you can keep leftovers in storage and use it later in other designs. Hope it helps!
@@DolbecAqua thsnkyou👍
Hi thanks for the video.i bought the aquarium after seing one of your video. It is 2nd hand the old owner has been use it for almost 3 years and i have it for 1 month.
Can you share the output nozzle direction of your flex 123l?.in my aquarium i notice there still debris flying arround.the water is clear and all the reading is good but still there is a lot of white debris flying arround.. maybe if correct placement of the nozzle can create good flow for the filter to work better.i dont know😅
Hi, sorry for the late reply! Simply put, the main shaft of the pump is aimed at the right corner of the aquarium. Then one nozzle is aimed to the left in an angle that is towards the lower left corner of the aquarium. The second nozzle is aimed directly towards the right wall of the aquarium and positioned to slightly disturb the water surface, to create some agitation. I found this setup to be what works best for me and the aquascape that is present.
So with this setup the left part of the aquarium which is the bigger half will have flow current because of the nozzle point downward toward the left corner right.
Let me try this setup and see how its going. My current setup both pointing upwards for surface agitation
@@abdulghafar1066 yup, that's how I have it
How do you clean hard water stains that have accumulated over the web pattern on back of the tank? On glass you would normally use a razor, but it would scrape that vinyl off. Any ideas?
I don't use a razor blade. Mostly because I'm scared to scratch the glass with a wrong movement. To remove any buildup I use an old plastic card (ex. old reward points card). It takes a bit more work than a blade but it also gets the job done.
The pattern is printed on the outside of the aquarium so I would not worry about scraping it off when working on the inside of the aquarium.
Is there a way to reduce the intensity of the water coming out of the two output nozzles? I find the water comes out too strongly.
Options are to either change the pump or modify/change the output nozzles to better distribute the flow. I've also heard about some people covering the outlets with aquarium sponge to break up the flow.
Where did you buy the brush to clean the tubing?
It was purchased in a petstore. It's made by Fluval and they have different lengths available.
Why do you not rinse the equipment in the running water?
Only to prevent chlorine from harming the beneficial bacteria present in the filter. This depends on your water source, not all cities use the same water treatment strategies.
Do you use the water you removed from the aquarium to clean the filters?
Yes, this way you don't kill off the beneficial bacteria living in the filter mass when rinsing.
@@DolbecAqua thanks.....great info!
How often do you do this? I have the same tank and am setting it up soon.
I do the full maintenance (filter+everything else) like shown in the video once per month, usually the first week of the month and a light maintenance (cleaning glass and debris with small water change) every week.
Do you have a quarantine tank to isolate your new fish?
Yes, I own smaller aquariums dedicated to this
(EDIT: I think I messed up in my calculation) I just filled up my Fluval Flex 32 gallon (123 liters) to make a test to see if it's leaking and to grade it to help with water change quantities. My test turns out to show that this is more like a 26 gallon (100 liters sharp) tank. Anyone else came to the same conclusion? This could affect your water changes. I could post my gradations if people want to prove or disprove.
It is 32.5 US gallons (123L) on Fluval's infos. Maybe your measures are done in imperial gallons because 32 US gallons roughly converts to 27 imperial gallons (100L)? Just a thought.
@@DolbecAqua I might have jumped the gun here. I emptied my tank, did my hardscaping, then I calculated the quantity of water I've added to the tank afterward and it's about 97 litres. I suppose I have about a volume of about 26 litres of hardscape, spider wood, lava rocks and substrate. My mistake. Forget what I said.
what height is your aquarium stand? please reply
Hi, I've made a video specifically on the 32g stand where you will find the informations that you are looking for :
th-cam.com/video/BjP4UUI4ix4/w-d-xo.html
Are you still in the hobby? I enjoy your videos i hope all is well
Yes I am! I haven't posted videos in a while (was dealing with career stuff) but I plan in the future. Thank you for your kind words!
Did you unplug the pump????
yes of course
Great tips!
Thank you for your support Erik! :D
Nice job and tips as I have the same tank
Love this tank!
Thank you for this video, it's really helpful, I just bought the same tank, and I would like to know if you ever need to change the bio media? Thanks (:
Hello Carlos, thank you! No it is not necessary to change the biological media, I've been keeping mine for 2+years and it still holds up.
Long answer : One of the common worries pushed in the aquaria community is that over time the micropores of the biomedia might get clogged up on a microscopical level and reduce the surface area available to house beneficial bacteria which could affect optimal biological filtration. While this might hold some truth, is it really an issue? I have not seen that. Beneficial bacteria live on everything thats is in the aquarium (substrate, rocks, etc.), not just the filter pieces, so lots of surfaces are available. So I can't justify the extra costs of constantly buying new packs of biomedia (some corporations go as far as recommending throwing away and buying new media every 3 months!!!) because I haven't found it to be an issue in more than 2 years with the same media. Proper maintenance of the filter section, water changes, testing the water parameters, etc. will be more important than buying new media. So keep the extra money and use it to go get a new aquarium/fish! ;)
Great information what size is the tubing you use for your siphon and what is the manual bulb you use to start your siphon and where can I purchase one?
I will have to recheck when I get back home. The manual pump is from Marina but other brands also make their own with matching tubing
Awesome. Some good info here. I got this tank 5 weeks ago and will be adding my first fishes this weekend. Wanted to get an idea of what I would need to do once o start doing regular maintenance. Thank you.
You're welcome! I wish you the best of luck and fun with your new fishy friends :D
Do you add any biological booster to your aquarium when you clean your sponges?
Not once the tank is established, but during cycling yes (if the filter is new)
Very helpful!
Thank you 😊😊
Excellent video, this will come in handy very soon as I'm currently gathering supplies and information to get my Flex 32G up and running.
I have another question for you, I was planning to have net-bags of crushed lava rocks under my aqua soil, for the benefits and to get some height at the back of the tank (maybe 5 inches). There's two water vent at the bottom of the back. How would you recommend I proceed to make sure I don't block them and mess with the water circulation. I was trying to find something at the hardware store, like a PVC board or something to make some indentation to prevent blockage from my aqua soil. Would I do this for nothing? What did you do to prevent this, I think your substrate is pretty high at the back too.
@@CarcPazu I've put large rocks right next to them that allow for flow to pass without clogging and it works fine. I've also heard of people 3d printing covers to add a thicker layer of substrate. The fact that they are a bit low is a point that I don't like but it isnt a huge issue.
@@DolbecAqua Ok I see. I went to the Aquarius store today, it's a very nice store indeed. I found the spider wood piece I was looking for. The price was similar to my local Nature shop but the selection was was way bigger, they have LOT of choice. They have about 10 times more types of stones and plants, I'll be going there more often. On the plus side, they really know what they're talking about and can give me better advices that Nature. Good stuff!
Yea Aquarius is on a whole other level, lovely place!
@@DolbecAqua I was very impressed that they have a 24"x48" table with substrate on it to test your stones and wood together before purchasing.