Gravel Vacuuming

[zesty]

Hi, did my first gravel vac yesterday and I had a right nightmare. I have eco complete as my substrate and the tank has some large slate rocks and plants and bogwood. I found that using the vac it was sucking up loads of "dust" from the eco c and it ended up going everywhere. I have a vac that primes when you shake it up and down in the water but this was a problem because when i got to the brace bars I had to lift the vac out the water and this caused everything to drop out of it over my plants and rocks. I ended up only doing a bit of the tank.

How important is gravel vaccing?
What about all the areas that are too hard to get to?
Is my tecnique wrong or does every one else suffer the same?

 

[mattlee]

gravel vacuuming is important to remove any uneaten food and poop thats in it to stop it polluting the water and having healthier water for your fish. what i do when vacuuming is to keep an eye the bucket that the water is being transferred into and when 3/4 full lift the vac off the gravel and just syphon the water, this clears anything still inside the tube and when clear and the bucket is full gently lift the vac out either at an angle so it doesnt drop all the water back in and scare your fish. doing it at an angle will release the water from the vac in a more suitable speed causing less splashing etc not stressing the fish as much. or you can put your hand over the end whilst still in the water making a seal then lift it out, turn upside down and release your hand dropping all water into the bucket and not the tank.....
hard to get to areas will still need doing and may require moving slate etc out of the way while you do it, i know its a pain but your fish will appreciate a healthier tank
hope this helps.

 

[rodders501]

gravel vacuuming is important to remove any uneaten food and poop thats in it to stop it polluting the water and having healthier water for your fish. what i do when vacuuming is to keep an eye the bucket that the water is being transferred into and when 3/4 full lift the vac off the gravel and just syphon the water, this clears anything still inside the tube and when clear and the bucket is full gently lift the vac out either at an angle so it doesnt drop all the water back in and scare your fish. doing it at an angle will release the water from the vac in a more suitable speed causing less splashing etc not stressing the fish as much. or you can put your hand over the end whilst still in the water making a seal then lift it out, turn upside down and release your hand dropping all water into the bucket and not the tank.....
hard to get to areas will still need doing and may require moving slate etc out of the way while you do it, i know its a pain but your fish will appreciate a healthier tank
hope this helps.

Sounds easy and I agree, cleaning the substrate is important. My problem is having so much wood, real plants etc, its nigh on impossible to clean more then 50% without wood falling over or uprooting a plant or 2, all of this stessing my fish. Not an easy task !

 

[zesty]

Thanks for that. Yeah its definately easier said than done. I think I might look at some other styles of vacs as the type I have is quite long and not that easy to work with.

 

[reflexhunter]

use a large turky baster and try to blow as much crude to one side of the tank

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, its surprising but true that sizing gravel vac components to a particular tank and setup can make a real difference in ease of use. Gravel vac use is a skill and there's just no getting around the practice time that's necessary, but you'll get there, just keep working at it and being observant and creative!

I vary the degree of gravel vac effort. Sometimes I go for a more intense weekend and pull all the ornaments and things I can and give myself a clearer shot at a larger area of substrate, then I re-scape the tank after the gravel clean. Other times I let myself be satisfied with getting at fewer areas and having it be relatively more of just a water change, but those times are in the minority as deep gravel cleaning in most tanks is such an important thing.

As a "Re-Beginner," one of the things I feel I've learned is that I was too timid about gravel cleaning years ago when I was a true beginner. I think it is common to have too much of an "attachment" to your aquascape, to think it is something that can't be disturbed. Instead, at least in a gravel substrate tank, it seems to be a much better system to have a great big weekly clean that, yes, is quite a disturbance (don't disturb the subset of "rooted" plants that don't like to have their roots disturbed) but is the core of good maintenance of a beginner tank.

Another thing the often concerns beginners is the clouding of the water with particulates from the gravel clean. Its totally normal and ok and its often better to just consider that it will be clear after an overnight. The more gravel cleans you do the more you will begin to be in tune with observing how it goes. A gravel based tank that receives good weekly cleans often put very little debris into the water and will clear up quite quickly after a gravel clean. On the other hand, if your water has more debris, that's not a reason to -not- do it! Also, the skill of gently getting the siphoning started with a tube lift will come to you if you just keep trying.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[yasinullah]

I bought the Biorb gravel cleaner for my tank, and its so simple to get it going, it has a pump you keep squeezing to get the water flowing initially. So it will initially pump air into the tank so I hold it way above the sand to stop it from disturbing the sand, and once its all flowing fine, then use it to clear up the sand, I always end up with some sand in the bucket though as I tend to go too close to the sand

 

[zesty]

Thanks for the replies. At least I now know that I cant really cut corners when it comes to cleaning the gravel. I like the sound of a vac with a pump to prime it, as like I said before my vac relies on you shaking it up and down in the water to get it primed which can be unsettling for the fish.

Using the same vac I did a water change on my lads 90l goldfish tank today and one of the goldfish got sucked up to the top of the vac, I should have been paying more attention to what I was doing but first I knew of it was when the flow had almost stopped and I thought something wasnt right. Thankfully he was ok though.

 

[Drum4JC]

I just thought that I'd chime in on the benefits of good gravel cleans. I was only vacuuming the top layer and not every week, and the grime built up in the lower layers and caused my pH to plummet. Now, every weekend, I take all of my aquascape out and clean them and then do a thorough vacuum. The fish don't seem to care a bit about the disturbance. Now that it's all cleaned up, the weekly vacuum is pretty clean and my tank's chemistry is stable.

 

[zesty]

I just thought that I'd chime in on the benefits of good gravel cleans. I was only vacuuming the top layer and not every week, and the grime built up in the lower layers and caused my pH to plummet. Now, every weekend, I take all of my aquascape out and clean them and then do a thorough vacuum. The fish don't seem to care a bit about the disturbance. Now that it's all cleaned up, the weekly vacuum is pretty clean and my tank's chemistry is stable.

I now can understand what your saying as i cleaned my lads goldfish tank yesterday and for the first time I got the gravel cleaner right to the bottom of the fravel and I was supprised at the extra dirt that was trapped beneath it. I think I will have to remove my aquascape also otherwise its never going to get cleaned that thoroughly. Thanks.