Can I lightly vac my surface gravel even with root-tabs deeper in substrate??

[marsh]

Hello, this is my very first planted tank (I really want to start a tank thread but after I move later this month and rebuild it in a permanent spot). Basic description: I have a 29g with a stock bulb in the hood lined with foil on an 8-hour phot period. I give a daily dose of flourish excel, but no CO2 system. My substrate is Eco-complete capped with caribsea gravel called peace river, fairly fine-grain. I currently have 6 Flourish root tabs in there, though I have 14 more ready to go in. Plants are low light for the most part, my DHG is struggling but otherwise they are all growing well. My only fish is a male betta, plus 3 large snails.

My Question: Can I gravel-vac the snail poop at all or do I need to chuck my snails?
My lfs gave me an apple snail, a ramshorn and a tiger olive nerite snail to attack my previous diatom problem(much better now). I have root tabs pushed deep down in the eco-complete which is capped with gravel, a fairly deep layer about 20 lbs each.

My issue is that these three adult snails are producing a significant amount of waste all over the tank. My Betta was pooping much less than even one snail! In his hospital tank I could monitor his waste and I would spot-clean daily so I know how light the vacuuming would be without these snails.

My issue is: All the planted tank advice I've gathered is to avoid deep-vacuuming gravel because the root tabs are useless if even slightly vacuumed. I don't know if it's because they fully dissolve to a liquid and get sucked up with any suction or what. So how do I remove the poop? I can't help but poke the vacuum a quarter inch deep when a bunch of detrius (is that poop? I mean poop!) instantly gets sucked out of the tank!

I am a closet neat-freak, and I think snail waste is less attractive than a bit of green algae, however the brown stuff I saw wasn't great either. I am on the verge of returning my snails or at least the 2 worst offenders, the apple and ramshorn.

The problem is I have named them and my partner was against returning them, he got attached already. To solve that problem, I could set up a second snail and shrimp tank which would be unplanted, or less so. I have a bevy of extra decorations and silk plants I am not using which I could use.

Down the road a few months I was planning to introduce a half dozen neon tetras to the planted 29 with my male Betta. If he became aggressive to the neons, they could be immediately moved to the second tank.

In case you haven't noticed I am trying to spin my S/O's love for these snails into a second tank, tips appreciated
Thank you much!!
-Leela and Marshall

 

[Andrew McFadden]

If you.do a swirling motion with tje vacs it will make everything laying on the bottom float up so you.can suck it up or the filters. Hope this helps

 

[marsh]

^Thank you, yes that is sort-of my technique, I will try smaller faster swirls..

Doesn't the waste settle deep into the gravel though? I recently did the whole tank without touching the surface but then tried to go about a quarter inch deep and loads more waste was visible through the tube.

Are most planted tanks pretty well-stocked with fish? How do you generally deal with waste in a planted tank? Perhaps my problem is I am trying to keep this tank much too sanitary and I am over-thinking it a little.

I prefer to keep my plants healthy and fed through the roots than worry over some trace waste left in the substrate if the visible stuff can be removed using swirly motions alone.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Yes when using gravel stuff does get settled below. I use sand to top any type of soil. Everything just lays right on top and can't get threw.

 

[marsh]

Ah I see. Well when I tear down later this month I wanted to attempt to separate the "peace river" off my Eco-complete anyway since the colors clash (tan gravel over black-- big oops). Maybe black sand is the way to go! Thanks Andrew.

 

[Philly33]

The Nerite will lay white eggs that you may think is poop. They adhere to everything but only hatch in brackish water.

 

[BBradbury]

Vacuuming Planted Tanks

Hello marsh...

You don't need to vacuum your aquarium. Everything that goes into the tank dissolves at some point. So, you just need to remove and replace the water once a week. My fish prefer large, water changes. I remove and replace half the water every week, so there's no time for toxins to build up before it's time to change the water. Large, frequent water changes quarantee pure water conditions for your fish and plants.

B

 

[marsh]

Thank you Philly. Thanks Bradbury.


I do a weekly 50% WC, sometimes that becomes a 8 or 10 day week to be honest, but I try to keep changes on Sundays. . At least I think it counts as 50%: I replace about 10-11 gallons and I drain the water level about half way to the gravel. My new water is easy to measure with my 2.5 gallon bucket. All the gravel/driftwood must take up at least 10 g's of volume right? I assume so.

I didn't know that waste dissolves, that is new info. My tank is under filtered with the whisper 10i that ran in my ten gallon. The cycle has been at amm:0 no2: 0 and no3: 5-10.0 ppm whenever I have tested it over the past 2 months it has been running. When I move I will put a 40i in, hopefully some tetras later.

On WC day I look around for eggs, none so far unless I'm being short sighted. My apple snail may have keeled over, he is pretty immobile all evening upside down. He got a chipped shell when he bounced off plants I was moving and hit the glass floor. I thought it healed up fast but perhaps not. How long do they live? He was over an inch wide.