vacuum gravel?

[ldytmropr]

I was told not to vacuum my gravel because that's where some of the bacteria grows. Now, I know that there's fish poop down there that needs to be cleaned up. I had difficulty cycling my tank because I was "too clean". It's cycled now though!! I have a gravel vac that works very good getting the "crud" out, but what's the proper way to do this so I don't kill the beneficial bacteria. Another question, what about rinsing filter's once a week. one LFS said to rinse the filter once a week and the other told me not to touch it until I do my water change. Please help!

 

[Liliano]

Hi

My fish poop seems to gather at the front of the tank where the flow stops - so I always vacuum the front of the tank - as long as you don't vacuum all your gravel and just do the window edges this should be fine as the beneficial bacteria will remain in the middle of the gravel.

As for filter rinsing - I generally do this every other week/water change as I do a small water change once a week. Just make sure that you rinse it in used tank water and not tap water - I don't see any problems with doing it once a week. I'm assuming you have an internal filter, if thats the case just a gentle rub in your used water change water to get the collected debris off it - you don't want to get it spotless as this could affect bacteria.

Hope this helps

Lil