Gravel Cleaning.

[Liamm]

Hi all

My tank is due for its first gravel clean, and I'm wondering what is the most efficient way of cleaning it?

Should I:
A) Take all my bog wood and plants out and give the gravel a stir to get all the muck out of it.
B) Syphon around the bogwood and plants.
C) Take all the bogwood and plants out and syphon all of the gravel.

I have no problem with taking out everything, problem is I don't want to stress out my fish. Also, if you know a better way, do tell. Thanks.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Whatever you do, dont give the gravel a stir as you will send waste all round the tank and cloud the water. Your filter will also end up dealing with a lot more solid waste.

Once the syphon starts moving water place it into the gravel vertically. This will lift the gravel and you will see finer waste particles being drawn away with the water and the gravel tumbling and falling back down. Lift the syphon vertically without disturbing the gravel sideways and repeat either in the same area or else where.

Whether you do B or C will depend on the size of your tank, water parameters and how much water you are removing.
You may only get a certain area done by the time you have removed the amount of water you need to.
It comes with practice and getting to know your tank.

 

[Liamm]

I see what you're saying, I'll have to see how much I can do with each weekly water change. Is it a good idea to remove my ornaments and plants? Will the fish benefit from an enviroment change like animals do? Or will that just cause unnecessary stress? I'm asking because my plants are rather bushy and it'll be quite difficult to clean underneath the branches.

 

[Skins]

I see what you're saying, I'll have to see how much I can do with each weekly water change. Is it a good idea to remove my ornaments and plants? Will the fish benefit from an enviroment change like animals do? Or will that just cause unnecessary stress? I'm asking because my plants are rather bushy and it'll be quite difficult to clean underneath the branches.

Why not leave the plants in substrate and remove ornaments then perform your gravel vac.

Keith.

 

[waterdrop]

You don't have to remove any of these things for average gravel-clean-water-change weeks. Every now and then if you get inspired then remove the bogwood/decorations and gravel clean underneath them. If you have easy to remove ones then you might decide to make it a regular habit with those. I rarely remove plants for tank cleans, especially rooted plants. I have some Anubias on rocks that are quite easily moved around or removed though, which gives me more room to work.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

As long as you are simply cleaning gravel, plunge the gravel cleaner right down into the substrate and wait for the water in the tube to clear, then lift the tube and move to a new spot. If you continue that way and keep track of where you leave off one week, you can pick up the gravel cleaning with the next week's water change. By containing the dirt inside the gravel cleaner tube, it does not release anything harmful to a place where it will affect your fish and the gravel can get a good deep cleaning. As far as plants are concerned, leave them in place and simply avoid the gravel that the roots are feeding in. Plants will use fish waste and waste food as fertilizers and will help keep your tank healthy by doing so. You need to deal with the rest of the substrate, not the small part that supports the plants' needs.
I suspect you will find that the fish either ignore the cleaning process or even swim around trying to eat the particles they see going up the gravel cleaning tube the way mine do. Cleaning really doesn't seem to bother them much. Adding the replacement water back in too quickly can stir the bottom and knock the fish about though. When I am ready to add water back in, I use the same gravel cleaning siphon that I used to remove the old tank water. A simple plank across the top of the tank makes it this easy to add a 5 gallon bucket of new water back in.