Is it really necessary to clean the tank so often?

I eventually get lots of snails and algie, but that should be a good thing, shouldn't it?

get algae eating fish and bottom feeders, that will help a lot with the cleaning!

Snails aren't.You put something in there you shouldn't have. They carry parasites.Algae is algae, you will never be rid of it. There are chemicals that will knock it back for a while, but frankly, the fish eat it. Get a plecko instead.If you have a plecko, or algae eaters, cleaning the tank is usually not necessary. You siphon about 10 percent of the water out every two weeks, usually cleaning out the gravel bed in the process, and that is all you need to do.The rest takes care of itself.The snails really bother me though...-Dio

Yes, the tank has to be cleaned about every month. Chemicals, and poop build up and are unhealthy. Get a gravel vacumn from a pet store. It makes cleaning easy, and fun. Follow the directions on the gizmo and you will be set.

A tank should never been fully cleaned, as in taking in all apart and cleaning everything. You should only be doing water changes, using a gravel vac is the easiest way and only do a max of 50% each time. I clean my goldfish tanks 20% every week and my tropicals 20% every other week.Snails can be a good thing if they aren't pest snails but a common misconception is they eat algae. They do but only if they are starving so dont count on them to keep a tank clean. They also add to the population of a tank.

i would get a "sucker" fish at the pet store, they usually take care of all the algae in the tanks, they dont cost much either.

Yes, you have to clean your tank because of all the poop & other pollutant that accumulate in the water. Get a Python No Spill Clean 'N Fill or Lee's Ultimate Gravel Vac for easy gravel cleaning, you wont even need a bucket it just hook up to your faucet and they cost around $25-30 for 25FT. There on sale at www.drsfostersmith.com at $24.99. If you want to get rid of the snail get a botia they consider snail as a treat. For your algae if its green algae the kind that makes your water green try Algaefix & watch in amazement on how fast your water will clear up. If its another kind of algae get the best algea eater the SAE (Siamese Algae Eater) known to eat almost every kind of algae even the dreaded Hair Algae. Although they are hard to find and a little pricey $9.99 for the juvinille and $20 for the Jumbo (5-6") ones w/c i got lucky of getting in my LFS. You wont be dissaponted. Just a word of caution make sure you get the REAL SAE not the imitation one. Heres a good site about the SAE: http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/wild/algae_eater_siamese.htm Thanks.

too much algae can indicate too much light in the tank (like either in front of a window, or u just leave the light on too long) and also an abundance of phosphorus (which can cleared up using a phosphorus pillow or keeping up with water changes) the snails can be annoying, but they help clean the algae

you will get overrun with snails-----I haven't cleaned my tank in over a year and it is perfectly clear and the fis are fine. That is because I dont leave the light on all the itme to grow excess algae and I dont remove all the bacteria from the gravel---thats thei "flu" shot to help keep the tank clear and the fish empty. Every so often I empty half the tank with a gravel vac, fill it up and let it go---I dont have algae growth to excess.

20% water changes should be done ever week because it puts less strain on your filter and a filter is pretty much mechanical filtration not biological. When you do water changes and take out the excess food and sh*t it lowers the ammonia and nitrates. Dont get a Pleco because they tend to get pretty large most get about a FOOT! algae eaters are ok but they do tend to like meaty foods and will bother your fish. snails do a great job with algae but if you stay on top of the water changes you wont have problems with algae and all the "cleaning" fish have to poop so that causes more waist. so do the 20% water changes every week and dont put more then 1 inch of fish per gallon of water and your tank will do fine. use a siphon hose when u do water changes to clean the gravel.

it should be cleaned at least every 2 weeks