Gravel Vaccing

[GRJ]

I was just wondering what people think about gravel cleaning while cycling my tank. I have had a few hardy fish in there for a week and the cycling has started as i have readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I am doing frequent water changes, daily in fact from today and i wondered if i should vac the gravel yet or not as i want the good bacteria to establish. I know that when i do clean the gravel, i only have to do a third of it each time so that leave some bacteria in there but does this apply while cycling? Should i leave it a whle or do it as planned after the fish have been in there a week? Thanks.GRJ

 

[Lynda B]

I didn't vacuum my gravel at all when I cycled. I waited. I don't think you need to do daily water changes either. What kind of fish do you have in there and how many?

 

[darkwolf29a]

With fish in the tank, I'd start watching my water tests. Nitrates and Ammonia are very toxic to fish, so you might have to do water changes.

 

[stuhyde]

what with no fish in the tank?

 

[rdd1952]

Unless you are using an undergravel filter, you should definitely vaccum the gravel. There isn't enough beneficial bacteria in the substrate to make any significant difference and removing the waste to keep the ammonia levels down is much better than the minute amount of bacteria you might lose. Don't worry about the 1/3 at a time thing. As I already mentioned, unless you have an UGF, the vast majority of your bacteria are on your filter media. You could remove all the gravel and not have any significant effect on your bacteria.

 

[Lorna]

I am cycling my tank with fish in it and I use the vac everytime i do a water change.

 

[GRJ]

I have 3 fish in my tank, a zebra danio and 2 platies(and some platy fry, the mother died though ). Its a 108ltr tank and the fish have been in there a week. My ammonia levels today before i did a 20% water change were 0.50, nitrite 0.25 and nitrate 20ppm. I a goning to start doing a 15% water change daily to keep the ammonia down a little. Thanks.GRJ

 

[Genie]

ooh, i was gong to ask a Q. about gravel vaccing, so ill put it here if noone minds.

I have 4 eels that live under the gravel 90% of the time. Would gravel vaccing affect them? They usually only come up if there isnt enough oxygen, they are my warning device lol.

 

[GRJ]

I would love to be able to give you advice but i am a newbie and havent a clue about eels, but to be honest, i would still clean the gravel as long as you know where the eels are, as you dont wanna get those in your siphon!!! Sorry i cant be any more help but hopefully some one will read and reply to you! GRJ