Gravel Cleaning Help!!

[madroosta]

OK GUYS N GALS I COULD DO WITH EXPERIENCED HELP HERE, I NEED TO GIVE MY GRAVEL A THOROUGH CLEAN AS EVERYTIME I TRY I NEARLY SACRIFICE A FISH.
I HAVE A FEW BOTTOM FEEDERS AND SOME VERY CURIOUS AND GUTSY FISH, THEY ALL SEEM TO HAVE A BIT OF A NOSE AROUND AND I CANNOT CLEAN PROPERLY, CAN I PUT THEM IN BAGS IN THEIR WATER AND DO A THOROUGH CLEAN WITHOUT THEM IN THERE AT ALL? NOT ALL BUT ONLY THE CURIOUS BREEDS. :shark:

[wataugachicken]

how big of a tank do you have?
what kind of fish?

what exactly are you doing during a "thorough" clean? describe your procedure and we'll tell what/how to improve or change it.

[plah831]

can't you just use your hand to kind of push them away? Since your hand is going to be in the tank to siphon anyway.

I've got loads of bottom feeders, including small transparent shrimps. Sometimes one will get sucked up, but most of them steer clear when they feel the odd vibrations coming. If I do see them in the siphon tube, I just lift it out of the water to break the suction, and they get dropped back into the tank no worse for wear :)

[psilo]

Goodness it msut be one rigorous syphon to suck up adult fish. If I know I have baby fish around I tend to cover half the tube with my thumb to reduce the gap and just take care. One other trick is to fix a piece of nylon (from stockings) to the end of the tube with a rubber band and make af ew little holes in it to let the dirt through.

[madroosta]

how big of a tank do you have?
what kind of fish?

what exactly are you doing during a "thorough" clean? describe your procedure and we'll tell what/how to improve or change it.

ok i have 2 gibbiceps - really dart around when i'm anywhere near which really stirs up the water
2 corys
1 albino cat
1 very odd plec/cat that truly does only come out when its dark
1 upside down cat
2 clown loach
1 pakistani loach
1 sucking loach
1 shrimp
1 blue lobster

i have a 50g tank

at the mo i just syphon the crap out with a plastic syphoning tube but cant get too close to the gravel as it sucks that up. :-(

[madroosta]

Goodness it msut be one rigorous syphon to suck up adult fish. If I know I have baby fish around I tend to cover half the tube with my thumb to reduce the gap and just take care. One other trick is to fix a piece of nylon (from stockings) to the end of the tube with a rubber band and make af ew little holes in it to let the dirt through.

well it doesn'y actually suck them up but they get pretty **** close!!

[plah831]

the siphon shouldn't actually suck the gravel out of the tank. If it sucks it halfway up the large tube, it stirs it up and really gets rid of the particles better than if you skim the surface of the gravel. I stick my siphon all the way to the bottom and no gravel is removed (well, maybe a couple grains, but I can live with that :D ).

[madroosta]

the siphon shouldn't actually suck the gravel out of the tank. If it sucks it halfway up the large tube, it stirs it up and really gets rid of the particles better than if you skim the surface of the gravel. I stick my siphon all the way to the bottom and no gravel is removed (well, maybe a couple grains, but I can live with that :D ).
but can i pop them in normal clear bags (like the ones you transport them in when purchasing) and do a thorough clean and a water change at the same time as cleaning???

[Hurley]

You can but I wouldn't recommed it. That will stress your fish out alot if you are constantly moving them around. Like Plah said, the gravel vac shouldn't be pulling your gravel out of the tank. If you are worried that much I would attach some sort of netting or screen to the bottom of the syphon so dirt can still get up but fish won't be able to. However, with some kind of netting on the bottom of the tube I would worry you might not be able to clean the gravel well enough.

[plah831]

I have to agree that bagging them for a simple tank cleaning will cause unnecessary stress. If you do water changes as often as I do (every few days in certain tanks), they'll learn pretty quickly to stay out of the way of the siphon.

[Hurley]

Also, if your syphon is sucking up gravel you might want to try switching to a wider tubing. This will decrease the amount of suction the syphon has.