How often to vacuum the gravel?

[hashbaz]

I do water changes once a week but moving everything to vacuum the the gravel is a lot more work. What is everyone's opinions on how often to vacuum?

Additional info:
It is a 29 gallon tank with an Aqua-Tech (cheap walmart type) HOB filter, and a UGF. I have 3 cories to help keep the bottom clean. It's fully stocked - 28 to 30in of fish (danios platies and guppies). My nitrates tend to be on the high side - about 50ppm.

I want to add more plants which will make vacuuming even worse. The plants I already have are: hornwort, anacharis, red tiger lotus, java fern, and an unidentified walmart plant.

 

[Fishalicious]

Yes, your nitrates are in the zone of putting your fish in danger. Water changes don't take care of that for you?

I vacuum about once every 3-4 weeks and i will alternate on halves on the tank to not vacuum the tank too throughly.

HTH
-Dan

 

[Meredith]

I vacuum every week when I do my water changes, but I don't vacuum the whole thing. There seem to be spots that collect more gunk than others, so I mainly concentrate on those areas.

 

[Megalofyia]

I vacuum about once a month.

 

[mitche8359]

I surface clean every time I vacuum. I'll clean out a little of the substrate every time as not to disturb the water too much.

 

[Menagerie]

You don't need to vacuum the whole tank. There are definitely areas of my tanks that are dirty, which I always vacuum and then I get about 25-50% of the bottom and I do not remove the decor.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I vacuum every week when I do my water change.
I concentrate on the areas around my decor where the gunk builds up most then vac. half the tank switching halves every week.

 

[lmw80]

I also vacuum with every weekly water change...I do not, however move my decor....maybe once a month I will pick up my driftwood and vacuum under it, but no major project needs to be made out of vacuuming.

 

[mitche8359]

And as far as vacuuming goes, I'll be the first to admit that my tank went a full year without it. The tank is planted. Within the last 5-6 weeks I've really gotten back into the tank and have wanted to clean it up fairly well for appearances as much as anything. That's why I've been cleaning a little of the substrate with each water change.

 

[TankGirl]

You don't have to move everything around to vac the gravel, but I do it with every water change, at least a little. The cory cats keep the uneaten food off the bottom, but they produce waste too so it needs to get vac'd up along with the other fish's waste. They won't actually "clean" the gravel.

Eventually the accumulated waste on the bottom will decompose and cause a rise in nitrate (possibly why water changes don't lower your nitrate much, if I understand correctly) and an overall acidification in the tank, with a lowering of the pH. A drastic water change and aggressive gravel vac at that point can shock the fish and create all kinds of problems, so if you are interested in changing your routine, do it slowly over time to work your way to the schedule you want to have.

 

[deeni0z]

I vacuum everytime i do a water change (so every week). My fish poop A LOT and I try to feed them a little bit.. but my mom always sneaks them food! Sometimes, if they're not in the mood, they won't take food so it collects on the bottom. Also, I have a problem with icky carbon dust everywhere and I hate it haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate it!

I guess it's up to you... but since you have so many fish I'd vacuum every week.... but i do already.. so this opinion is pretty biased.