gravel cleaning etc???

[campion]

Hello people.

I am new ot the joys of having tropical fish.


We had a MAJOR disaster a few months ago wit hour fish tank.

We had a very cloudy fish tank one mornig and lost a few fish due to amonia.
We never knew about this untill it was too late.
To cut a long story short, we took a sample of the tank water to the local aquarium man and he confirmed we had a tank that wasnt healthy. He suggest water changes every day or so, and to CLEAN the gravel.....

We got a gravel cleaner and have been using it every time we do a water change.. (weekly)

Do we have to clean every inch of gravel in the tank??
(we have plastic plants, a sunken boat etc for decorations and we dont want to move them if we dont have to.



30L tank
under gravel filter
4 mollies
3 tiger barbs (small)
3 moss babrbs
2 guppies
3 platies

 

[parker313]

I don't clean every inch of my gravel every time I change the water, but I always hit the spots I know are going to be dirty and then once every couple of months, I rearrange my tank right before I change the water so that gets the spots that I didn't get with the vaccuuming before.

--Kristin

 

[njnauticalnut]

Welcome to the forum and to tropical fish keeping.

Actually you do not want to clean every inch of your gravel as there is beneficial bacteria that lives in there. When you are vacuuming the gravel you are doing it to remove the fish waste and any leftover food. I wouldn't go really deep into the gravel with the vacuum just a bit below the surface and the top of the surface.

As far as the plants and decorations go, I don't think you need to move them everytime as there is probably not a lot of leftover food or waste under them. On occasion you may choose to lift them while cleaning.

HTH!

 

[campion]

Thank you for the very quick replies.

I can now enjoy watching my fish and not worry too much about cleaning the gravel.

 

[clutterydrawer]

I just clean the open bits but maybe every month or so I lift up the driftwood, rocks etc and clean under them, I am always shocked at how much dirt is lurking under them

 

[rvm]

Actually you do not want to clean every inch of your gravel as there is beneficial bacteria that lives in there. When you are vacuuming the gravel you are doing it to remove the fish waste and any leftover food. I wouldn't go really deep into the gravel with the vacuum just a bit below the surface and the top of the surface

I'm not convinced about that. I used to have quite a coarse gravel and I would vigorously clean that right to the bottom every water change. I have since changed to a very fine gravel, and can't do that as it gets sucked up.
Anyway, my point is, that most of the effective bacteria will live in the filter media, and although there is bacteria on every surface of the aquarium, cleaning the gravel won't make any significant difference.
Of course this is provided you have don't have a UGF!!!!!!

 

[!guppy!]

lol i do my water changes but I've always left my gravel to build up, as i have live plants, there is an even balance forming where the gravel is dirty but the plants thrive on it and grow better and absorb so i barely need to clean gravel up

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

I clean my tank completely through, especially my gravel substrate, every three months. I believe this revives 'dead' areas of the substrate where more 'dangerous' bacteria may possibly thrive.

I also make sure that the new water is dechlorinated, and that the plants, gravel and accessories aren't cleansed of beneficial bacteria, ie I leave them as they are.

Water changes for me are 10-20% twice-weekly intervals.

Not had a problem with any fish diseases as yet, and fingers-crossed, I won't for a long time to come.

 

[njnauticalnut]

I'm not convinced about that. I used to have quite a coarse gravel and I would vigorously clean that right to the bottom every water change. I have since changed to a very fine gravel, and can't do that as it gets sucked up.
Anyway, my point is, that most of the effective bacteria will live in the filter media, and although there is bacteria on every surface of the aquarium, cleaning the gravel won't make any significant difference.
Of course this is provided you have don't have a UGF!!!!!!

rvm,

Thanks for the info. I typically vacuum the gravel until it appears clean to the eye. I also deep clean a section each cleaning as I have heard opinions that vacuuming the gravel removes beneficial bacteria. It does makes sense that since there is beneficial bacteria everywhere, it won't hurt to vacuum all of the gravel deeply as the bacteria will reform there fairly quickly. Have a good day!

 

[Cavafish]

rvm, this guy says he has got an UGF. I dont know anything about these so I cant comment on them.

Does it make a huge difference? I wouldn't have thought using a gravel cleaner would make any difference to the bacteria, surely they are stuck on the pieces of gravel and only poo and stuff gets sucked up??

 

[rvm]

if you are using a UGF, then the gravel contains your useful bacteria colonies, so whether they get sucked p by the vacuum or not, I wouldn't disturb it too much!!! Best of getting rid of the UGF and getting a proper filter!!!!!