Tank Vacuuming / Cloudy water

[RoVic]

Thought I'd vacuum the tank but this time get as low as i could without sucking up the gravel.
problem is by doing so its making the water cloudy. there seems a lot of mess below the first +/- 2 cm of gravel. if i continue will this Cloudy water harm the fish?
What method do other people use when doing a clean up? I hold my hands up i know its my fault for allowing the mess get so deep, i do Hoover and disturb the gravel but I've not been getting deep enough. any advice please ....

 

[reefdiver]

I dig my vaccum all the way to the bottom of the tank. I recomend you do part of your tank every time you change water.

 

[RoVic]

Thought I'd vacuum the tank but this time get as low as i could without sucking up the gravel.
problem is by doing so its making the water cloudy. there seems a lot of mess below the first +/- 2 cm of gravel. if i continue will this Cloudy water harm the fish?
What method do other people use when doing a clean up? I hold my hands up i know its my fault for allowing the mess get so deep, i do Hoover and disturb the gravel but I've not been getting deep enough. any advice please ....

Just to add: I've been using a powered battery Hoover, been looking on youtube at other methods i thank I'll change to the more conventional suction pipe ...!

 

[shellieca]

I push my vac ALL the way down into the gravel so that it gets the crud underneath & I don't move it until the water in the tube is clear. My 10g tank got cloudy water after running about 3 months, I did a little research & found that the cloudy water could be from waste so I started doing the deeper vacuuming & sure enough my water cleared up after a couple cleanings. You want the gravel to be sucked up a little bit into the tube. I use a syphon vac for my 10g tanks & a Python for my 46g.

 

[reefdiver]

I think that might be the problem. I never used it before nut i woild think that some of the waste will still filter to the water. The python is best IMO cuz ita takes the water and poop out all at once.

 

[Matt68005]

You can get pump action syphons from petsmart for like 10 bucks. I reccomend running a UG filter and a HOB powerfilter if you want to use gravel. Also use something when you pour the water back in the tank so it dosen't splash up all the detris. (waste) a ceramic bowl or plate works good.