RCS + Gravel Vac

[JackSpadesSI]

I've got an RCS tank that has quite the colony going. Therefore, the ground of the tank is covered in RCS. When I say covered, I don't mean wall-to-wall, but there are certainly a lot.

So, does anyone have any tips on how to vaccum the gravel and not suck up half of my RCS colony?

 

[LyndaB]

This concept scares the bejeebers out of me. I went with a planted tank and sand substrate, that way I don't have to do a proverbial gravel vac. I would have no clue how to do it without having a heart attack.

 

[Gboy66]

I say just dont..what on the bottom do you have to vac anyways?

 

[adadkins1]

Many people don't vacuum their RCS tanks, especially if they are planted. I agree that just not doing it would be best, as if you tried you would likely end up with some injured/dead shrimp.

 

[RedFlame]

It's not as grave as previous posters have made it out to be. Granted you can't just toss the water changer in there and leave it. I vacuum all of my tanks, the primary concern is shrimplets that can get sucked up, just clean what you can get to and don't worry about the sections that are between plants as you can damage the stems or uproot them if they are relatively new.

I have a large water changer and a small gravel vac for spot cleaning plus the smaller tube lets me scoot the shrimp out of the way. Just take your time and go slow and know it's not the end of the world. One last tip, if you do any kind of water change or gravel vacuuming in a tank with shrimplets always check your water before you dump it out.