vaccuuming

[darby]

How often should you vaccuum the gravel in a tank?

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Everytime you do a PWC is best. Rotting material raises you ammo levels.

Sent from my Epic 4G

 

[darby]

That's what I thought. I swear I read something today that said you should never do it because of the bacteria. Can't remember if it was on here or not. I thought that was a little strange.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

That's what I thought. I swear I read something today that said you should never do it because of the bacteria. Can't remember if it was on here or not. I thought that was a little strange.

It does house some bacteria, but it also collects uneaten food, poop, etc. It's better to clean out all the bad stuff than worry about the bacteria in it.

Sent from my Epic 4G

 

[WendiDell]

I read something here on AA just a few days ago, that made a lot of sense to me about PWC and vacuuming.
When you do lets say a 25% PWC, you the vacuum 25% of the gravel. Then with the next PWC you vacuum the next 25% portion of gravel. Doing it this way you get the gunk and maintain the bacteria levels.

 

[darby]

I read something here on AA just a few days ago, that made a lot of sense to me about PWC and vacuuming.
When you do lets say a 25% PWC, you the vacuum 25% of the gravel. Then with the next PWC you vacuum the next 25% portion of gravel. Doing it this way you get the gunk and maintain the bacteria levels.

I missed that one. That makes more sense.

 

[dkpate]

I usually vacuum half one week, and the other half the next week, so that would go along with what Wendi said, since I do 50% pwc's.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I read something here on AA just a few days ago, that made a lot of sense to me about PWC and vacuuming.
When you do lets say a 25% PWC, you the vacuum 25% of the gravel. Then with the next PWC you vacuum the next 25% portion of gravel. Doing it this way you get the gunk and maintain the bacteria levels.

Interesting theory, but what about (in my case anyways) areas covered with DW, rooted plants, rocks and decorations that don't get moved when cleaning? If I only cleaned 25% of the gravel I can access, wouldn't I really just be vacuuming 10%, maybe less (est.) of the total volume of my substrate?

Bacteria lives in all the gravel but uneaten food or fish poop, etc doesn't get to every part of it. So unless your tank substrate is completely bare, or you take it apart in sections each time, I'd have to respectfully disagree with that theory.

Sent from my Epic 4G

 

[henryprice]

Yeah you could get scavenger creatures like shrimp that filter the substrate for hard to get areas.

 

[WendiDell]

If I'm only doing a 20% -25% I just move the decorations from that part. I don't have any real plants (I can't keep them alive) but if I did I would vacuum around them, which is easier with the statues out of the way.
It's really easy doing it like this, I PROMISE.
I have a 55g cichlid tank with caves and rocks and a ship and tons of places to hide or sleep and all of those are covered by plants so that they are hard to see. It only takes me 30 minutes to do 25% PWC's in 2-55g tanks. And I have Bushynose Plecos pooping everywhere.
it's easy to do, my tanks are crystal clear, my water parameters are stable.
Oh ya, I've had 5 back surgeries and doing the PWC/vacuuming this way doesn't cripple me up for days.
What else could be a problem?

 

[BigJim]

If you clean all the gravel every week, you shouldn't see too much accumulation of stuff in the gravel and it would keep the tank healthier. If you have plants, clean the gravel well where you can get at it. Stick the vacuum down deep in the gravel and let it sit there until you're sucking clear water.

 

[NODAK1979]

I siphon the top every time I do a WC....which is every 2-3 days.