Gravel Cleaning Question

[jboan16]

OK I'm new at this, and somebody here said there was no such thing as a dumb question so here goes...I have seen it said both to do a good gravel cleaning at water change but I have also read here not to clean too well. When cleaning the gravel, can you see the bacteria being suctioned out. Common sense would say that it's microscopic, but can it clump into visible particles. When I suction under the gravel, the tube nearly turns black with everything coming out from the gravel.

My predicament is that I have a 29 gallon tank that I have had for 9 weeks. I've not added any chemicals (other tan stresscoat) and my ammonia has been stuck at around 7.0. I realize that I started with too many fish, and fed too much, but this has been corrected. My water is crystal clear, the ph is 7.0, and the three fish I have are growing (I did have some fatalities at first). I have been doing 10% to 25% water changes at least once a week. So back to my original question. Should I suction the gravel until the tube is clear, or is that too much? Thanks for any help.

[fishfreek]

Well the bactera would be to small to see. What your sucking out is uneaten food and fish 'poop' for lack of a better term. The uneaten food and fish waste are items that contribute to the ammoniia in the tank. Removing it will lower your ammonia.

I would gravel vac 1/2 of the tank at a time.