Gravel Cleaning?

[GuppyGirl20]

So I have a siphon that I use to go my water changes with. I stick it in the gravel to get the gross stuff out and everything but I've noticed my gravel looks a little dirty (like in coloration as in dirt is stuck to it kind of way). To clean gravel do you just scoop some out and give it a rinse??? Or does it not really matter? I can't take all my gravel out becasue I have plants but I have heard of people in the chat and on the forum talk about that they've cleaned their gravel. Is this a think I should be doing??? 

 

[fluttermoth]

No, you don't need to actually take the gravel out and rinse it. When people say, "I cleaned my gravel", they mean that they used a gravel cleaner to siphon out the mulm

 
The discolouration is normal; it's a layer of microscopic organisms and algae that's known as 'biofilm' and it's healthy for your tank to have some.

 

[GuppyGirl20]

Ahhhhh okay. Thanks for clearing that put for me

 

[ShinySideUp]

There are some who will take it all out and clean it but 'there be dragons'; using the siphon to suck the gravel off the bottom so the gungy stuff comes out is about all you need to do. Gravel does get a bit mucky over time but then that sort of thing feeds the plants, gives bottom dwellers things to pore over and makes the tank look 'lived in'.

 

[Alasse]

I'm not a fan of the 'lived in' substrate look. For me personally that means it rescape time lol Tis personal choice really, if you dont mind the look leave it be, if ya do clean it up

 

[ShinySideUp]

If I didn't have a 'lived-in' tank I would be condemning half my fish to a life of boredom as they are all bottom feeders. Mind you, I haven't seen any of the tanks of posters on this tread so it may be that my definition of 'lived in' is different from theirs; I mean my substrate is not swimming in crud, indeed the sand end is positively pristine as the corys and khulis regularly turn over the top layer.