Gravel Vacuum Use

[Susanne]

Here's an easy question.
I just bought a gravel vacuum. Are you supposed to use that for water changes and at the same time it cleans the crap from the gravel? My main tank has lots of gravel. My guppy tank (2nd tank) has no gravel at this point, so do I still use the vacuum for the crap at the bottom? Not much instruction on the box the vacuum came in so I thought I'd ask here.

Weekly water changes of 20-30% is ok ?

I'm new to this, and getting my aquarium equipment bit by bit. Next thing to get is a water tester.

 

[Anemoneman]

Are you supposed to use that for water changes and at the same time it cleans the crap from the gravel?

Yes

My guppy tank (2nd tank) has no gravel at this point, so do I still use the vacuum for the crap at the bottom?

Yes, or just use a hose. More suck but it could injure a fish if you're not careful. The larger diameter of a gravel vacuum reduces the velocity so it only sucks up light stuff.

Mark

 

[Susanne]

Gravel Vacuum

Well I should be OK. The one I bought has a medium size and when I tried it out, it sucks the water pretty fast. I had a full bucket before I knew it. It didn't suck any gravel or fish, just the bottom stuff.
Are vacuums used for water changes and it gets the gravel garbage at the same time? Or should I be using the vacuum when I notice the gravel needs it?

 

[sunsplash76]

Hello susanne~
Yes, you can use the gravel vac to change the water most definitely. Here's a tip I learned the hard way; DO NOT over gravel vac the gravel. You can be overzealous in trying to keep the tank clean and actually do harm instead. There is a delicate bacteria balance in your substrate (Gravel) and if you vac too much, there is not enough good bacteria and can cause lots of problems. So just because it has the vacuum on it, doesn't mean you always need to use it. A little bird told me that vacuuming 1/2 the gravel really well and leaving the other half was a good way to go about it. A water change every week is good, but not too much water.

What kind of water tester are you getting? PH/ ammonia ? How old are your tanks? What size tanks do you have? what kind of fish do you keep in the main tank? The more we know, the better we can help. good luck!
~Melissa~

 

[Susanne]

tanks

What kind of water tester are you getting? PH/ ammonia ? How old are your tanks? What size tanks do you have? what kind of fish do you keep in the main tank?

I was going to buy a full water testing kit that does all the recommeded test. (ph, nitrate, amonia etc). It costs almost $60 or so.

The main tank is about 5 or 6 weeks old, it is a 20 gallon tank. It has 4 platies, 5 Harlequins, and 4 Red Eye Tetra, also a Mystery Snail and a Dwarf Frog.

The second tank just had fish (11 guppies) added last night. I've been getting it ready for a couple weeks prior to adding fish. This tank has no gravel.

Thanks for the advice re: vacuum gravel. That should work for me great.
Thanks!

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

PHew!! where do you live? 60 dollars sounds awfully expensive to me, I don't know about everywhere else, but here i can get the full monte for about 25-30 dollars...have you tried another store and compared prices? how about buying it online--you may find even cheaper there....

 

[fishfreek]

Susanne, Is that canadian $60 or US $60?

Live mid-market rates as of 2002.10.07 15:10:31 GMT.
60.00 CAD Canada Dollars = 37.6954 USD United States Dollars


BTW I found this really cool currency conversion site just now.


http://www.xe.com/ucc/

 

[Susanne]

price

Good idea.
What are the main ingredients for a good full monte testing kit?
I know PH, Nitrate, Amonia ... what else?

I will check out the auctions on Ebay or Aquabid.

What do you suggest as a good testing kit?

Thanks!