Is there an aquarium hack for removing dirt pellets?

[DanR]

Hi guys, my new-to-me aquarium has a good amount of dirt pellets mixed in with the gravel and I'd really like to remove them. Is there a cool trick to somehow separate the dirt pellets from the gravel or do you have to just bite the bullet and take the gravel out with the dirt? I have been debating using my shopvac and a brand new hose to suck up sections of gravel during weekly water changes and slowly getting rid of the dirt or just sucking up the gravel, tossing it and adding new. In hindsight I should have done this when I first got the tank and had almost all the water removed, but it was late and I was nervous about the fish being in a bucket for so long etc.

Oooooor do I just leave it? I have no intentions of keeping real plants.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Fishwilllive]

Yes there is a solution but you need stuff 2 work it

If you have any kind of small holed screen just take the fish out of the tank and put them somewhere they can last more than 30to50 mins in because the soil has to dry completely ;so basically get a bucket so say I have a cylinder Home Depot bucket I would cut the screen to fit in the bucket but tight enough to make the screen divide the top of the bucket with the bottom of the bucket then pour all the gravel onto the screen in the bucket WITHOUT MAKING A BIG FLIPPING MESS!!!and grab the bucket and shake it around...the soil should separate depending on the size of the screen or the soil

 

[DanR]

If you have any kind of small holed screen just take the fish out of the tank and put them somewhere they can last more than 30to50 mins in because the soil has to dry completely ;so basically get a bucket so say I have a cylinder Home Depot bucket I would cut the screen to fit in the bucket but tight enough to make the screen divide the top of the bucket with the bottom of the bucket then pour all the gravel onto the screen in the bucket WITHOUT MAKING A BIG FLIPPING MESS!!!and grab the bucket and shake it around...the soil should separate depending on the size of the screen or the soil

OK so when the pellets dry up, they tend to break apart easily? When they are wet, they sort of squish in to a greasy mess, like you have a small dot of black caulking in between your fingers that you're smearing around. I also assume this stuff is slowly coloring the water as they dissolve? The previous owner did weekly water changes and when I did my first one and was vacuuming the gravel, the water was like coffee color under the gravel

I gathered that was soil particles.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[coralbandit]

OK so when the pellets dry up, they tend to break apart easily? When they are wet, they sort of squish in to a greasy mess, like you have a small dot of black caulking in between your fingers that you're smearing around. I also assume this stuff is slowly coloring the water as they dissolve? The previous owner did weekly water changes and when I did my first one and was vacuuming the gravel, the water was like coffee color under the gravel

I gathered that was soil particles.

Thanks,
Dan

That's probably not soil unless you have soil producing fish???
I would keep vaccuming ...
25-50% daily till crap is gone.
Don't mess with your filter when doing this for the next week or so...

 

[DanR]

That's probably not soil unless you have soil producing fish???
I would keep vaccuming ...
25-50% daily till crap is gone.
Don't mess with your filter when doing this for the next week or so...

Well I figured the soil pellets are dissolving in the water and the particles are settling to the bottom.

 

[coralbandit]

Well I figured the soil pellets are dissolving in the water and the particles are settling to the bottom.

You should be using an aquarium vacuum.
They are a syphon hose with a larger collection area that will separate the 'soil' from the gravel while still in the aquarium.You will need a 5g bucket also..
You can safely change 50% of your water daily if temp is matched and you de chlorinate..

 

[DanR]

You should be using an aquarium vacuum.
They are a syphon hose with a larger collection area that will separate the 'soil' from the gravel while still in the aquarium.You will need a 5g bucket also..
You can safely change 50% of your water daily if temp is matched and you de chlorinate..

LOL! OK let's restart.

I vac the gravel when I do the weekly water changes, like I did 20 years ago when I kept fish for 5 years

So with that out of the way, it appears to me the sediment/poop coming from the gravel in this aquarium seems to be MUCH darker than normal, so I was thinking that the soil pellets slowly "melt" and release soil particles in to the gravel along with the usual stuff you need to suck up.

Hope that clears it up I actually remove about 30% of the water, I have a little piece of tape on one side that marks the target level.

Dan