How Clean Should The Gravel Be/

[augustaranger]

My tank is 4 months old. The first couple of months I basically just did 25% weekly water changes and didn't mess with the gravel too much. Since then, I have vacuumed the gravel really well and removed a lot of nasty looking stuff at first. My water stats are always good. I have only fake plants. The water always stays clear except right after a cleaning before particles in the water have a chance to settle. Am I possibly cleaning the gravel too much by disturbing the bacteria in it?

 

[Leitch]

I wouldent think so. Most of the bacteria are in your filter anyway.

Clean away =]

 

[shang hi]

depends what type of tank and gravle ofr instance i have a biOrb and their is bacteria in the gravel (its the media) and my new tank has special gravel that has bacteria that makes food for plants that shouldn't be gravel vacumed, its called Eco Complete and should be just what my new tank will need.

 

[augustaranger]

Mine is just plain gravel. No plants.

 

[Tolak]

As long as you aren't running an under gravel filter you can vac the gravel all you want. I run bare tanks with no gravel, so gravel has no major effect on cycling.

 

[shang hi]

gravel vacing for you is a good idea to remove excess fish waste (stoping it turning into toxic ammonia - nitrIte - (untoxic) nitrAte). also it just makes the bottom of the tank look nice.

 

[Will91]

The only live plants I have are low tech, low light plants that I have tied to African root wood. So I tend to vacuum/siphon the gravel once per week or two weeks. I sort of use a "scoop and drop" method rather than simply hovering over the surface. I combine the gravel vac with a filter maintenance and 20% water change. The tank is a bit cloudy after all this but after about 12-24 hours, it is markedly clean and crystal clear. I have a Tetra Whisper filter (hang on back variety) so no worries for me about beneficial bacterial removal from the gravel.

 

[augustaranger]

I've been stirring up the gravel quite a bit and it's easy to see the debris being sucked up. The gravel always looks fine, but I've been amazed at how much stuff comes out. Sound pretty normal?

 

[Leitch]

Yea, as long as your water readings are normal then theres no problems =]

Theres one particular spot where i always have lots of debris being sucked up.
My platys always steal the catfish pellets and bring them over infront of the cave, so all the debris is gatherd there.
Makes my job easier i suppose.

 

[Meds081603]

I am always amazed at how much garbage is in the gravel. It does not matter how frequently or infrequently I clean the gravel, there is always a ton of stuff that comes out.