Cleaning The Gravel In A Planted Tank

[Chappers]

This might sound a bit of a daft question, but I've just started up a 10G planted tank, stocked with Galaxy rasboras and a few RCS. It's my first planted tank and I'm a little unsure of how to clean the gravel when I do a water change.

With previous tanks I've always moved everything during a water change and had a good dig around in the gravel with the gravel vac. With the planted tank, I don't want to move the plants but I'm a bit worried that I'm not getting a good enough clean of all the decaying matter in between the gravel.

Grateful for any advice.

Thanks,

David

 

[Mamashack]

You don't need to clean all the gravel every time as you will disturb all the gubbins in the gravel including good bacteria.
It's a good idea to clean a different 20-25% each time which then doesn't disturb the balance.
Gravel cleaning around the plants, leaving a little room around them so as not to disturb the roots, shouldn't cause any problems.

 

[Chappers]

Thanks mamashack, will panic less about trying to get everything out.

 

[Gruntle]

I don't touch the gravel in my planted tank at all. I do suction off any bits resting on the top, but the rest breaks down, falls through and fertilises the plants. My water parameters are fine, although I do slightly larger than the minimum recommended water change to keep the nitrates in check (the extra bits the plants don't take care of, anyway).

 

[Chappers]

Thanks for the advice Gruntle