cleaning tank with plants
- Thread starter Renee1
- Start date
Probably depends on how much plant mass is taking up space on your substrate. I usually just lightly skim the gravel surface where I can.
If you have plants woth roots (and any plant stuck into gravel will have some roots) then I would just skim over the top with the gravel vac. The plants will use the mulm (poop etc...) as a food source and rich soil to grow in. If there are large bare areas with just gravel then I might do a deeper cleaning there.
I like "not" having to do thorough gravel vacs ever since I converted to a planted tank. Ditto on doing light "surface only" vacs to clear out any poop, uneaten food and detached foilage from the plants.
The weekly partial water changes (about 25%) are still a must. I think it's great that the plants can benefit from the mulm being dug into the gravel over time... makes for a more natural ecosystem.
The weekly partial water changes (about 25%) are still a must. I think it's great that the plants can benefit from the mulm being dug into the gravel over time... makes for a more natural ecosystem.
I have the same question everytime I clean my tank...however I always forget by the time I get to my computer. Definately not dumb!
I have not performed any gravel vacs in around 10 years I'm not sure I still have the large tube lots of plants it not needed at all IMO.
Second if you are getting large amount of ditris you are not pruning well enough or you are over feeding the fish.
Second if you are getting large amount of ditris you are not pruning well enough or you are over feeding the fish.