Hello everyone,

I have about 60 pounds of natural rock in my aquarium stacked for decoration/cichlid living space. I am wondering how often I should remove and clean these rocks and what are the best methods to do so. Again, they are the natural porous type of rock. Thanks!

P.S. I am not talking about my substrate, but the stacked rock decorations. However it does make it hard to vacuum around all these rocks so maybe I should do both at the same time?

I typically cleaned my rocks after the algae growth became unsightly, and otherwise about once every two months. Because I kept no live plants and had a good oxygen exchange from my filter, I didn't have to worry about gas levels. With a low bioload (very few fish in my old tank), levels were easy to maintain. I'd think the cichlids would graze on growth here and there, so I hope my two cents gave you a little bit of a guideline. My tank was a 5.5 gal, so I'm sure yours will be far easier to look after.

__________________

You can use a brush (only used for fishtanks), and swish them around a little. That's all you need. If they are porous and you have flowing water, I would swish them in water removed from the tank to protect the bacteria on them.

Porous rocks can be helpful for tank stability.