Vacuuming!!

[Mayonnaise1971]

Hi. I have an 80 litre tank which needs vacuuming (lots of poop) but I’ve noticed a couple of little babies round the bottom and so scared of suckin em up! My question is, how often is right for vacuuming your tank?
Thanks

 

[lenticular]

Just put some filter floss on the intake and you should be fine.

How much you vacuum depends entirely on your stocking. In some tanks especially heavily planted ones I might vacuum once every 3-4 months, but for others every month

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Mayo...

I understand the fry and other small fish can be a problem when vacuuming. This is why I stopped doing it. I found by just removing and replacing half the tank water weekly, I was able to remove the waste material and maintain good water conditions. The only waste you need to be concerned with is what has dissolved in the water. This is the source of the nitrogen that can cause water chemistry problems. Just change half the water weekly and you'll have no tank problems.

B

 

[DavyKOTWF]

So one doesn't have to buy a vacuum?

 

[King Fisher]

If you're stocked heavy then vacuum

 

[Ulrichsd]

If you're stocked heavy then vacuum

Agreed, I'd get a vacuum regardless for water changes. You can probably go a little while without vacuuming until the fry are bigger, but in general, it is a bad idea to get behind in general tank cleaning.

I have a heavily stocked mbuna 60 gallon tank and a few years ago was lazy with my vacuuming... we recently had a baby and soon after I picked up a bad cold and got behind a week or two on the water changes.

Bad tank maintenance + missing water change + heavily stocked tank = very bad results

In the matter of 24 hours I must have had 6 or 7 fish die, despite my best efforts of doing multiple 50% water changes each day for a few days after the initial death. When it goes bad, it goes bad quick.

So the moral of the story is keep up on your vacuuming, keep up on your water changes

 

[Lokilow]

I mean you have to vacuum water out anyways and if you have gravel why not spot vacuum gravel as well regardless? Thats what I do. I have a heavily planted tank and cant gravel vacuum everything but I do spots I can get at.

My tank is a rainbow tank so I do water vacuums weekly.

 

[DavyKOTWF]

Ok thanks all. Vacuum just bought.