Gravel Vac

[JustKia]

So one of the first things I did was buy a gravel vac. Only I'm not 100% sure I'm using it right. Now, initially I'd have thought that it was fairly idiot proof - but either I'm not getting anything up from my gravel or I'm moving the gravel around

How on earth are you supposed to get the gravel vac to vac the gravel without completely re-doing your aquascaping? If I'm close enough to actually lift the top layer of gravel then I have to go back after and kind of smooth the gravel back out after - or just leave it looking like the surface of the moon
I've got fine gravel 1-3mm, not pea sized.
Any hints or tips?

 

[andywg]

Not much of a hint or tip, but I haven't cleaned the substrate in over 3 years. I wonder just how necessary cleaning the substrate is in most general tanks.

 

[doresy]

Hi, 2 methods I use but I have sand. Swirl the end of the tune an inch or so above the substrate surface and you will see the c**p as it's disturbed then just suck it up. I also use a stabbing action into the sand to release gas build-up.

One tip I can offer is to use a finger over the end of the tube to control/stop the flow to allow small particals of substrate to fall back

Hope it helps

 

[JustKia]

Thanks,
The substrate does all fall back - just not where it came from but if I hold the end of the vac an inch or so above it doesn't seem to pick anything up from the gravel... maybe there just isn't much to pick up as there's only 7 danios in there?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

with gravel you do need to push the gravel vac right into the gravel, with just 7 danio's you probably won't have a huge amount of waste to pick up.

just push the end of the vac down into the gravel, any waste should suck up the tube, do this across the whole tank, don't worry over the mess your gravel got into afterwarrds, then if the gravel looks too uneven afterwards you can just smooth it all back over, you can even by a little rake especially for this job if you so desire!!

perhaps i'm just not as tidy and precise as you but i've never noticed problems with the gravel ending up bumpy

the swirly method above the substrate only works for sand, it won't suck bits out from in the gravel so no point

 

[Schmill]

Is it advisable to do the whole shovey-into-the-gravel thing with a planted tank? I am never sure with mine? It seems to cause a lot of disruptions to the plants, and I kind of think that if the roots are down there they probably want a nice bit of something to feed on?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

depends how heavily planted it is, you're right to leave an area of a few cm's around the roots of each plant, if the tank is heavily planted enough for that to mean there are very few places that you can vac then just don';t vac and hte plants should suck up all the waste.

 

[Schmill]

Okily doke, sounds good to me
Sooo much camboba in my 60L tank it's almost impossible - lol
Not wanting to hijack here but whilst we are on the topic, do you need to move ornaments / bogwood when you vac? I'd thing that would be quite disruptive, and there likely wouldn't be much 'gunk' under the stuff?

 

[Corleone]

I move ornaments that fish get under, but not all that often. Any decor that sits fairlysnugly on the bottom is fine, you won't get much under there.

 

[JustKia]

A little gravel rake I'll just carry on poking it in the gravel and then smoothing it out if it's too bumpy - but hey I guess it gives the wee fish something to cruise along - who wants boring flat "roads" when you can have gravel dunes

 

[Keithoms]

Swish the tube quite quickly above the gravel. That motion stirrs up alot of dirt and then you can siphon it up. For me i can just jam it into my gravel and it works fine.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Okily doke, sounds good to me
Sooo much camboba in my 60L tank it's almost impossible - lol
Not wanting to hijack here but whilst we are on the topic, do you need to move ornaments / bogwood when you vac? I'd thing that would be quite disruptive, and there likely wouldn't be much 'gunk' under the stuff?

well try lifting up some ornaments and see how much junk gets under there. you might think not a lot of dust gets under your sofa but you'd be amazed whats under there when you pull it out!!!

treat it like vaccing a room, move ornaments etc to clean under and around them with the exception of live plants or areas with them a cm or two away which you can leave be so that the plants absorb all the lovely poo!

 

[waterdrop]

JustKia,

You know, its a funny thing.. when I was young I used to worry a fair amount about messing stuff up, but now, years later, I've finally realized that re-shaping the gravel, replacing the ornaments and even some replanting really takes only a very few minutes and I really don't mind doing it at all! But I do tend to have simple cleans sometimes and more thorough cleans on occasion, just as you would with a house, as MW says, lol. Sometimes I just gravel clean and then reshape the gravel and am done. Sometimes I carry the ornaments to the sink and scrub them and gravel clean where they were and then do everything back up. I've come to think that people with good-looking tanks do plenty of fussy cleaning and arranging and they come to realize its not really all that much effort after a while.

Schmill, You've received some good answers re whether to deep gravel-clean or not. My current opinion is that technically its impossible to say yes or no to that because you will find people doing both extremes depending on which overall approach they are taking (for example to "natural-technique planted aquarium" vs. "technical-technique planted aquarium" (I'm making up these terms.)) My feeling is that its appropriate here in the "New to the Hobby" forum to advise that beginners in freshwater tropicals go with reasonable gravel cleaning, if for no other reason than that they get a feel for this type of maintenance and have the best chance because of it of keeping their fish healthy. Clean gravela and clean filters give the beginner the best chance of a positive initial experience before they go off experimenting with more advance approaches (some of which may, in the end, be perfectly valid!) By the way, I thought MW's comment yesterday was quite good.. gravel clean where you can and if you have an area heavily planted enough to make that hard, then leave it and they (the plants) will be able to derive some nitrogen and phosphorus macro-nutrients from the debris that's somewhat increase at their base.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[JustKia]

Oh it's no effort, I just wondered if I was missing the point and using it wrong or something.
hehe not that young either - 30 is only days away LOL