Syphoning gravel

[DrConnie]

Every time I vacuum my gravel I end up having to almost completely move (and ultimately rearrange) everything in the tank. My questions are:

1. Is there a way to avoid this disruption of plants (plastic) & other decorations?

2. Is it stressful to the fish when their environment suddenly looks different?

 

[Flossie]

Every time I vacuum my gravel I end up having to almost completely move (and ultimately rearrange) everything in the tank. My questions are:

1. Is there a way to avoid this disruption of plants (plastic) & other decorations?

2. Is it stressful to the fish when their environment suddenly looks different?

U shouldn't have to move everything every time...

 

[DrConnie]

Each time I move the tube up & down, it disrupts the anchors of the plants & the decorations fall over, so they're getting moved even if I don't want them to.

 

[BBradbury]

Vacuuming Gravel

Good morning Dr...

If you have a planted tank, you don't need to vacuum the gravel. The plants use and need the dead plant material and fish waste for nourishment. Vaccuming can also damage your plant roots.

I have several large planted tanks and I just leave a small open area in the tank so there's a place for me to put my syphon and remove the water.

I don't typically move anything in the tank.

Maybe I don't understand your tank situation.

B

 

[DragonFish71]

Good morning Dr...

If you have a planted tank, you don't need to vacuum the gravel. The plants use and need the dead plant material and fish waste for nourishment. Vaccuming can also damage your plant roots.

I have several large planted tanks and I just leave a small open area in the tank so there's a place for me to put my syphon and remove the water.

I don't typically move anything in the tank.

Maybe I don't understand your tank situation.

B

She uses plastic plants not live ones.

 

[DragonFish71]

Personally, when I had plastic plants I rearranged my tank with each cleaning. I wanted to do it. The tank was a cichlid tank and it helps ease aggression over territory.

It's not as stressful to move things around as it is if you remove everything.

To me it sounds like you're being thorough, which is great but seems to be an issue for you.

Try cleaning close to the objects, like about an inch from them and see if that works better. Depending on what type of gravel vac you use, it might just be powerful enough to get the crud from around the decor. I use a Python and have no trouble getting around my river rocks.

 

[BBradbury]

She uses plastic plants not live ones.

Hello Neighbor...

Apologies. I really didn't think about artificial plants. Never had them. I guess they'd certainly be easy to move and you wouldn't have to worry about root damage during vacuuming.

Now that I think about it, you could have very inexpensive lighting and save a lot on fertilizers.

B

 

[tarpon]

If your tank isn't that big maybe you could buy a smaller gravel vac????

 

[Sssea]

I would say to clean only a section of the tank each time you do a pwc. It makes less work dealing with decor and disturbs the bb less. I usually vac 1/2 the tank and switch off, so I don't have to deal with all that jazz.

 

[alLexX]

it doesnt stress out the fish,in my 10 and 55 plants get moved constantly during pwcs and the fish are all fine

 

[DrConnie]

Thanks to all of you! That was exactly my issue. A lot of decorations & plastic plants and I just didn't want to disturb the fish if that bothered them.