Water changes VS. Syphoning

[brendan]

What's your opinon on changing the water in a tank. Should I syphon the bottom every time I change the water or should I do weekly water changes without syphoning and syphon every two or three weeks that way keeping the biological baterial in the gravel for longer

 

[LondonGman]

Personally I clean the gravel out weekly to remove solid waste and uneaten food. However to the best on my knowledge the bacteria cannot simply be siphoned out. i think they stick to the gravel and everything in the tank and filter.

I think the fear of disturbing gravel is from the fear that sifting the gravel may cause a nitrates spike due to the rotten food at the bottom of the tank. Bacteria need oxygenated water to break down waste and in some tanks there is poor circulation in the gravel so this could be a real problem.

I could be wrong though

 

[Smonkey15]

i agree, if you vaccum the gravel and really dig it in there, you will find tons of disgusting stuff you didn't even know was there that have to be omitting a TON of nitrates. it seems far better to keep that stuff out of there then to worry about the bacteria, plus londongman is right it does stick to the gravel so it shouldn't even be a problem.
steve

 

[Neuve]

Personally i do a water change weekly and syphon half (the front part, thats where i throw pellets) of the tank every 2 weeks. One week I do water change, the other clean one of the foam inserts of my HOB, the third I syphon and fourth clean the other insert... Well, not with that timing but thats the idea...

I have HOB and UGF so i do not worry a lot about my bacterial colony, but anyways its always good to take precautions. If I were you (or if if i had only UGF, id alternate water change, with half a tank syphoning...

 

[brendan]

Neuve,

That sounds like a good schedule, I'll give it a shot.

Thanks