Cleaning Tank?

[vmckague]

What is the best way to vaccum a tank when there is alot of plants in it? I never had live plants before just plastic so moving them wasn't a problem. But with live plants I don't want to disturb the roots but at the same time I know somewhere down the line it will need vaccumed. How do you guys do it? Thanks in advance

 

[leafs]

You really don't have to vaccum a planted tank because the plants use the waste. Some people will do a light vaccum above the substrate. It's a good idea to vaccum areas in the tank that don't have plants and can build up waste.

 

[debiasir]

i just gravel vac the open areas. that seems to be sufficient

 

[Nauplii]

yea you could just vacuum those spaced areas.

You really don't have to vaccum a planted tank because the plants use the waste

This may be true but i cleared out all of my plants and bogwood 2 nights ago and i found such alot of dirt and waste around my plants it was a thick layer... maybe over time they use the waste, but right then it was really dirty.

 

[Slyspy]

i just gravel vac the open areas. that seems to be sufficient

Ditto and no problems even when the tank was left for three weeks.

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

When I'm cleaning around my plants, I just use the siphon (and not the gravel vac thingy). I poke my fingers gently in the gravel around the roots to disturb the debris and then suck it up with the siphon. You just need to be careful to keep the fish away from the siphon. (I keep my finger very close to the opening of the tube.)