Couple of newbie maintenance questions!

[IndiaHawker]

1. Does anyone have any advice on cleaning things like poo etc off of sand? Been using gravel vac and hovering slightly above the surface but finding it really tricky as it's not a large tank and can't really get into some of the smaller spaces/even do the bigger spaces as accurately as I'd like - plus it's tricky to get it the right amount off the surface whilst manoeuvring around and keep sucking up sand!

2. Any tricks to getting plants to stay in? Had a plant uprooted today which is currently floating around the top and I will be tending to it shortly. As a kid I always remember we'd leave them in the foam/metal/whatever it is weighted things around the roots which I guess kept the plants together and kept them weighted down - but I've taken them off as I want the plants to be able to root in naturally and I'm hoping they will - if they stay in long enough! So any advice there?

Please and thank you!

 

[Essjay]

I use a wine making siphon in my tanks https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-syphon-pack/p/0022573 I remove the tap from one end and the cup off the other. The cap is used in wine/beer making to stop the siphon picking up the debris, but we want to pick up the debris. The rigid plastic tube after the cup is removed is very easy to manoeuvre round small spaces.
But the siphon can't be started the same was as with a fish tank siphon. I fill the tubing with water under the sink tap, then carry it across to the tank with the open ends held uppermost. Then put a thumb over each end, lower one end into the bucket, the other end into the tank, and take my thumbs off. If you need to remove another bucketful of water just thumb over the tank end and put it in the bucket, then lift the tubing out with the open ends uppermost. Either hold it in one hand while you empty the bucket, or place it carefully in a second empty bucket while the full one is emptied.


I'll have to leave the plants to someone else - mine are all the type that are grown on decor.

 

[IndiaHawker]

Sorry for the late response, forgot to reply to this till now! Sounds like a good idea but considering I'm struggling enough as it is keeping the water in the right place (aka not all over the floor) with my current vac, I can only imagine this being extremely messy for me!

I wonder if there is any sort of well-functioning instrument that can get in crevices and siphon out food and algae without actually removing the water? Or removing it but returning it, clean, to the tank? Like a handheld filter with a nozzle almost? Seen a few variations of similar things to what I'm looking for on Amazon, but the only ones I've found so far (still looking) have a lot of bad reviews. Upon looking today I can see a fair bit of build up in some awkward places, between rocks and the like. Water change on sunday so will do my best to remove with the current siphon but will have to see how it goes and possibly improvise a little Thanks for the response though!

 

[IndiaHawker]

Looking at this:

http://www.aquatics-warehouse.co.uk...Iyi2kM0o-noabQ6h7og4u2IFNsY_fgZhoCNREQAvD_BwE

https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/p...X&ved=0ahUKEwi8yZeexcDcAhVDI8AKHU3VD7gQqisICg

Does anyone have any knowledge on this product or similar, or if it's worth buying/will work with sand substrate/will do what I'm looking for? Thinking of getting it as the google reviews appear to be good, but will look more into it!

 

[Byron]

You may be doing "too much" cleaning. All that detritus is beneficial--for plants, for bacteria, for denitrification...in short, for a healthier biological system. I rarely touch the substrate in my tanks, all of which have play sand, with one exception being the 10g which houses my continually spawning pygmy cories and I like to keep the open areas clean for good health as they grow since they are on the substrate so much of the time.

On the plant question in post #1, what type of plants? If stem plants, plant more of the cut end of the stem, and you can also use small pebble rocks temporarily or permanently. If substrate-rooting plants like swords, crypts, etc, make sure the roots are down well into the substrate, pile it up a bit, then gently pull the plant up so the crown is not buried (to prevent it rotting). Here again you can use small pebbles if needed.

I've never had this problem until recently, in my tank with the cories, but the pebbles pushed into the sand tightly around the plants (pygmy chain swords) solved the problem. Cories are pretty determined when they have a shrimp pellet or similar lodged next to a plant and can easily uproot it when they are initially small with under developed roots.

 

[Kimm87]

I use a turkey baster and i just suck up some water and then squeeze it back out on the sand to stir the debris up and then just do a water change . if you have sand or dirt it will probablly move but you can just move it back with the end of the baster.
As for keeping the plants rooted i stick the roots under rocks and caves to keep mine rooted