How Often Do You Need To

[twinkle9]

hoover the gravel in the tank? Is it necessary to remove the plants as I find it hard to hoover round them and dont seem to be picking anything up much.

Thanks

 

[three-fingers]

I'd say once a week. Even with an under gravel fliter, fish poop loads .

 

[sparky_555]

I use the vacuum every time i do a water change (twice a weak since i'm doing a fish cyle).

 

[Gankutsuou]

I have a few questions of my own!

A: do you need a vacume for any/all tanks?
B: How do these things work?
C: How much do these cost?
D: how do i get fish ppoey out of my rocks without doing a full tank clean out without these things?

 

[three-fingers]

A:I would yes, makes it much cleaner and is the best way to remove uneaten food/fish poop.
B:You suck on the end on the tube while the other end is in the tank. The bucket the dirty water is going into must be lower down than the end of the tube in the tank.
C:Mine was £5, they are essentially just a piece of rubber tubing with an attachment to the end, so their not expensive.
D:I have no idea, use your imagination .

 

[Fillet 'O' Fish]

Answer to D =

 

[sparky_555]

I wouldnt suggest using a vaccuum in a tank maybe under 5 gallons, it would be easier to just do a 100% water change in a tank that small.

I think mine cost around £7

 

[Gankutsuou]

well I have a 10 and am getting a 40-55... may as well

 

[wodesorel]

I upgraded from this little dinky gravel vac to a monster when I got my 20 gallon tank. It is a JOY to clean because instead of - stick it in the gravel - shake the gravel out - move on to the next spot - it's like trully using a vacuume cleaner - just running it along the top of the gravel sucks everything up! However, by the time I'm done vacuuming, there's almost 7 gallons of water out of the tank.

I'm going to upgrade the monster to one of those types that hooks directly up to the sink. No carrying buckets around anymore! I'm not 100% sure how they work, but with five snails, even once the tank is fully cycled it's gonna need cleaned two to three times a week or it'll look horrid. Anything to make the job easier sounds good to me!