Should I stop vacuuming my tanks sub straight?

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jacpaq2000

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So my tank has a lot of plants in it and I just got some more yesterday. I'm planing on adding more in the future but I was wondering if I should stop using my vaccine to clean the sub straight because I heard online that plants can use the ammonia fish leave behind as a fertilizer. Will this hurt my fish or will this be a good idea to increase plant growth. I'm also planing on getting some cherry shrimp which could help if the ammonia gets to high. Also I'm among on getting some German blue Rams and I herd they have a weakness for ammonia. Will this hurt my GBRs or any other fish I may get that dislike ammonia


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I wouldn't stop using the vacuum because even when you use it, the rate at which it actually cleans is slow compared to how much water you take out of your tank. Vacuuming never gets all of the fish waste anyway IME so what is left in the substrate after vacuuming will be good for the plants.


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sydneypaige690 said:
Your tank looks nice. Is your light bright enough for the plants?


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I believe so but I think the bulb is getting old though. I should probably get a new one. Thanks for the advice


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Vacuuming the Bottom Material

Hello jac...

You don't need to vacuum the substrate, ever. The old organic material from the fish and plants collects on the bottom and is always dissolving in the water. The resulting nitrogen in the water, feeds the plants. So, you never need to use commercial fertilizers. Most of the waste that's left, should be removed by removing and replacing half the tank water every week and replacing it with clean, treated tap water. The new water dilutes the rest of the nitrogen that's left in the tank to a very safe level and keeps the fish and plants healthy.

B
 
You can vacuum in the front, away from the plants for now. I have sand, so I never vacuum mine except to swirl the hose above the sand to remove detritus.

My tanks are heavily planted, so I can't vacuum or I'd hit roots.

ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1422576190.874804.jpg


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I have a heavily planted tank, totally impossible to vacuum. However the stocking is about 65% and I have loads of red cherry shrimp and Malayan trumpet snails. The combination works well as the RCS clean up anything edible and the MTS constantly turn over the substrate by burying themselves during the day. I do have two very good external canister filters which seem to collect a lot of the waste, more than I've experience with regular gravel cleaning in past tanks. My water is crystal clear and parameters spot on. So I would say that in the right tank and setup that vacuuming is not essential.


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I just vacuum up the piles of pleco poop in the corners and lightly every where else, I don't shove the gravel ac down into the substrate like on non planted tanks
 
Thank you. Do they stay individual plants, or have you separated them? Mine seem to be having 'babies' at the top of their leaves, and I'm not sure if I should cut them off, and replant, or just let them be and see what happens.


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Mine send out runners. I leave them connected. Unless they're in a bad spot and then I separate them off of the runners and move them. I took most of the chain Swords out of my tank because I've got new plants, and they were taking over the tank, they got too happy.


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I can't wait til the day I can say "my plants are too happy"! They are growing well, just not going crazy, like I wish they were.


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Coursair said:
You can vacuum in the front, away from the plants for now. I have sand, so I never vacuum mine except to swirl the hose above the sand to remove detritus.

My tanks are heavily planted, so I can't vacuum or I'd hit roots.

View attachment 262666


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Hi, how have you found live plants with sand? I have a sand base and read that most plants won't root due to compaction. Any advice for a complete novice?


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