Cleaning planted substrate

[Super_Blueberry]

I got some plants in the mail this weekend, and when I was planting them, I noticed just how dirty my substrate had gotten since my first round of planting 5-6 weeks ago. I started off with a half dozen small clumps (2-3 stems each) of argentine swords. When I stuck them in, there wasn't much for roots, so I haven't been cleaning the substrate to keep from disturbing them. When I started planting the new stuff yesterday, again, they didn't have much of a root system, so I had to really move around my substrate to hold them down. That's when I noticed just how dirty the gravel was, and also just how large the roots from the swords had gotten.

So my question is this: once the root system has really taken hold, can I vacuume the gravel like I would normally do if I didn't have plants? Would/should the roots hold the plant in place?

 

[Link119]

you can siphon maybe an inch above the substrate then lower until you start lifting the substrate, and once you do, raise the siphon a little. That way you get as much gunk out as possible without messing with the substrate.

 

[xtra51]

I would vacuum the open substrate around the plants, not the rocks close to the plants if that makes since.