General Care Discussion :: Basking dock problem

[Bumby's Mom]

I cleaned both the tanks today with bleach and when I go to put Nyx's basking dock back in the dang thing wont stick anymore! It just sinks into the water! I have no idea what happened it has been fine since I got it and now it just sinks. Will she be ok overnight without a dock? She normally sleeps in the water but I want to make sure it is fine or I will keep her in the crate until I can figure out what to do (that is the option I really don't want to do since she hates the crate). Suggestions? The suction cups are sticking but not good enough

[SpotsMama]

She'll be fine without her dock overnight. Usually they sleep underwater anyway.

How odd about the dock. Maybe the bleach damaged the rubber in the suction cups so it's not resilient any more. Can you get some replacement suckers?

Several things in Spot's tank are held up with rubber suction cups - his basking platform, heaters and filter inflow and outflow pipes. Sometimes they get old and lose their resiliency and I just replace them. Suckers seem to be pretty interchangeable so I just always keep some on hand for when I need them.

If the dock is very heavy so it puts a strain on the suckers you might use one of the algae cleaning magnets to hold it in place. Do you know how that works? Industrial girl was the first one to use a magnet, I believe. I use a magnet for Spot's dock since it's pretty heavy and it works real well.

[Bumby's Mom]

I finally got it to stick last night at 4am LOL. It seems like they are getting stronger, so hopefully they will be back to normal soon. And I am glad the dock ended up holding last night because she slept on it instead of in the water.

[industrial_girl_2000]

If there is any algae on the wall of the tank, that can make the dock slide down the wall. So make sure you scrub the wall really well, scrub the suction cups of the dock well too, and try again. Those super-strong wall-cleaner magnets for 350gal tanks are great at holding the dock in place & keeping it from sliding.

[Bumby's Mom]

Thanks for the tips. There is nothing in the tank now since I bleached the whole thing. For some reason they are sticking perfectly fine now even with her on the dock so I have no idea what happened that first day, very weird.

[myrtletheturtle]

i thought that we shouldnt use any kind of chemicals to clean the tank ive just been using water to clean it out should i be using bleach

[steve]

You shouldn't use bleach unless it's necessary to disinfect it.

[Bumby's Mom]

Her tank and the babies both needed disinfecting. The babies had a worm and mold outbreak in their tank and he tank has mold except after bleaching I realized the mold is somehow behind the sealant..

[myrtletheturtle]

well that makes sense then

[GotEmInOkinawa]

This isn't a problem with the basking dock, but I do believe that I am having a problem with Morty and DC not basking enough. I never see them on their basking spot, only just below the surface, almost as if they are looking at it wanting to get on it, but scared too. I have had them for almost three months now, and the only time I do see them basking is just before the tear off into the water because I have stepped an inch into the room where their tank is... any solutions? Or am I just being paranoid?