How to properly clean out substrate

[chinoanoah]

Those of you who have more than simple moveable rocks and fake plants, how do you clean out the gravel without disrupting the roots and such of your plants? My tanks have always had lots of gunk in the substrate and after too long became really noticeable and disgusting!

Thanks, Noah.

[MichaelsLilGray]

thats a good question... ive never had to take care of this situation lol. i guess you could use a gravel vacume and just use that around the plant.. not to upset it?

[Purrbox]

All that "gunk" (mulm) provides nutrients for live plants, so most of us only gravel vac the unplanted areas and remove the excess mulm on top of the substrate. Since it benefits the plants I guess you just learn to live with the substrate not looking as nice as when it was new.

[chinoanoah]

Am I doing the right thing in my Oscar tank by vacuuming out the substrate?

[rich311k]

Originally Posted by chinoanoah

Am I doing the right thing in my Oscar tank by vacuuming out the substrate?

Absolutetly the more you get out the less nitrates it becomes. With a messy feeder like an Oscar every bit helps.

[wims590]

I use a siphon vac for the gravel ...works wonders! i have some loaches and snails in there so theyll pick up some stuff too.