No need

its very hard to vaccum sand.... so i do it once every 2 or 3 weeks honestly it does not help for me, root tabs do
I modified my vacuum to a 1.5 inch tube I can empty 200l in 3min ahahah I did it for vacuum sand as I was with to close or too far away but now can vac like 4inchs above ... only down side is Iv almost sucked a Cory up once or twice and I syphon straight out of a window lol
 
I modified my vacuum to a 1.5 inch tube I can empty 200l in 3min ahahah I did it for vacuum sand as I was with to close or too far away but now can vac like 4inchs above ... only down side is Iv almost sucked a Cory up once or twice and I syphon straight out of a window lol
omg... that cory must be scarred for life....
 
omg... that cory must be scarred for life....
Surprisingly they Learn fast , I have a group of 10 and 4 are small luckily they are healthy so can fight the flow for a while but having small kids it’s easy to get distracted and not notice lol so far just close calls ahah my older ones love it if I syphon while there spawning they love the flow and try and lay on the tube lol
 
It can depend...A LOT. If the gravel is coarse, uneaten food and fish/plant waste can get down under where it decomposes to pollute the water and can become a 'nitrate factory'. This is one of the short comings of the undergravel filter when water flows are too great and detritis gets pulled deeply into the gravel. Without routine gravel vacuuming, water quality may suffer.
The above condition coupled with over feeding and perhaps infrequent periodic water changes can result in very high nitrates that may go unchecked.
On the other hand, if you don't over feed, the gravel size is modest, AND you do routine partial water changes of sufficient volume/frequency, gravel vacuuming becomes less important.
AND there are different schools of thought. My friend Greg Sage of Select Aquatics of Erie Co. is convinced that mulm should be removed as it results in a decrease in water quality that inhibits fry growth. While Charles Clapsaddle of Goliad Farms feels that mulm is beneficial and there are several inches in most of his otherwise bare bottom vats of fish...but he has massive plant filtration.
One other factor. Once organic material decomposes the resulting 'sludge' is relatively inert so one could make the case that with sufficient plant filtration and/or sufficient frequency/volume of fresh water partial water changes, mulm or mulm in the substrate is insignificant...which can make grave vacuuming quite optional. :)
Exactly
 
do you have tips on vaccum sand? alwats had to stir the sand up, makes a lot of commotion, the catfish dont like it
Just don't do it! I never touch the sand and haven't in 10 years or so! With a couple of Cories and Malaysian Trumpet Snails there is never any mulm on the surface. If there is mulm on the surface and it bothers you, you just hover the siphon tube above it and away it will go. AND AGAIN, NEVER, EVER, EVER STIR the sand - as it's counter productive!
 
Just don't do it! I never touch the sand and haven't in 10 years or so! With a couple of Cories and Malaysian Trumpet Snails there is never any mulm on the surface. If there is mulm on the surface and it bothers you, you just hover the siphon tube above it and away it will go. AND AGAIN, NEVER, EVER, EVER STIR the sand - as it's counter productive!
uh oh, counter-opinions!!!
 
uh oh, counter-opinions!!!
Well, for what it's worth, I've been in the hobby over 50 years. done loads of research, done many experiments, and I've written a lot of articles on my website/Blog - links in my signature. :)

EDIT: HOWEVER, I FREELY ADMIT THAT THE MORE YOU LEARN, THE MORE YOU REALIZE THAT THERE'S MORE TO LEARN !
 
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uh oh, counter-opinions!!!
With a course gravel, poop can get in-between it, with sand, it sits on top. Stirring the sand allows poop underneath it, hovering the siphon above, does not
 
I have sand never see poop so if I did have gravel I wouldn’t vac that either
 
I use to siphon gravel when I had tanks when I was a kid but I haven’t in 3yrs after I picked the hobby back up and my tanks have been fine. Wish I knew haha
I have never vacuumed gravel in 45 years of fish keeping. The plants take care of the fish waste. I love these people that put ferts. in their tanks for the plants but vacuum the gravel and get rid of all the natural ferts.
 
Those people who don't have live plants do need to vacuum the tank though, whether it's on the top of sand or buried in the gravel.
 

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