First Gravel Vacuum In New Tank.

[zola]

Hi,

Did my first gravel clean a moment ago, combined with a water change at same time.

I'm unsure how well I did.. I saw wee bits going up, the water was coming out fast, but I adjusted the tightness so it came out slower.

I was plunging directly down then tilting the vacuum maybe 45 degrees to try and get all the dirt up. I was worried about hitting the fish though!!

I took about 60% water out so I stopped.

I then added newly treated water. It's all clear now but there were bits of wee things flying everywhere for about ten minutes after.

Seems all clear now but still unsure how good a job I did!

 

[Hoppo]

How dirty was your water? Dont worry about hitting the fish, they usually stay clear of you. What I do is after I stir the tank up enough, I just hold the tube above the gravel and move it around to get all the debris that is stirred up. Try and grab anything big looking.

 

[zola]

Water Was pretty clean, just gonna get into the habit of doing this once a week to try and keep it in good condition

 

[Caprichoso]

You'll get the hang of it, don't worry. When I first got my python gravel vac, it scared the heck out of me because it was sucking like a.....well, lol, it was sucking a lot and I was scared I was going to suck up a fish. Some of them do get curious but nothing to worry about as long as you move quickly from one spot to another. As far as the bits floating around, that will stop once you get used to using the vac better. After a few vac's you'll be a pro! No need to take out that much water, 30-50% per week is great,(unless your dosing heavy with fertilizer). Sounds like it went fine

 

[OldMan47]

It sounds like you did just fine. I try to get a different part of my substrate each week so that over a period of time it all gets cleaned. When you have had a tank running for a while, the scrubbing action of the gravel banging against itself in the vacuum tube will be releasing obvious clouds of dirt. I plunge my vacuum tube all the way to the bottom of my substrate and let the gravel that gets picked up perform that scrubbing action before I move on to a new location.