Vacuuming

your LFS obviously has no idea what it's doing (or maybe thats intentional...)

anyways, gravel vaccing should occur at least once a week (at most, once every 2 weeks, but once a week is recommended), which is what a partial water change is. in addition to removing water, a gravel vac's main purpose is to suck out all the fish poop and gunk that accumulates (which would otherwise decay and make your water quality even worse).

simply using a container to remove water is not enough.

i vacuum all of my tanks once a week. it keeps detirius very low along with the nitrates.

I have two 10 gallon tanks and a 2 gallon hex. I vacuum the 10 gallons 3 times a week, and the 2 gallon everyday. Usually a 50% change.

I do all my tanks every week. Was amazed at the amount of junk I got out of the 29-it has new gravel less than a week old!

Just on a side note - is there any variance in allowable frequency for a heavily planted tank? Nitrates as well as other contaminants are consumed by the plants, often to the point where one needs to add them, but also plants root in poop and benefit from the trace nutrients left behind. In this case, is it not possible that one could over vacuum their tank?

i do a gravel vac every time i do a water change..so thats 2-3 times a week

Shocker6966 said:

Just on a side note - is there any variance in allowable frequency for a heavily planted tank? Nitrates as well as other contaminants are consumed by the plants, often to the point where one needs to add them, but also plants root in poop and benefit from the trace nutrients left behind. In this case, is it not possible that one could over vacuum their tank?

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Though the plants will help with the water quality it is still advisable that you gravel vac once a week at the least. Changing the water regularly helps to keep the nutrients in the water balanced. When you are dosing ferts, especially if you are using the EI system of dosing, you have to get the excess nutrients out of the water; otherwise, algae will make use of it. And if you are not dosing ferts then it will help replenish some nutrients that may have been usd up.

Related Question for Newb:

What's the best way to gravel vacuum? I have a lot of plants, and I hear that crypt plants don't like having their roots disturbed. So what do I do? Also, what's the best way to get the vacuum started? It seems hard to do without some sucking action on my part (ewwww).

To get the suction started I just put the vaccum in the water( the larger end) and let the barrel type tube fill up with water. Then I raise it up, water still in it) and bring it a little above the water level. The water should leave the barrel through the airline tubing and before all the water completely leaves the barrel I place it underneath the water surface again. This should keep the flow of water going. Just make sure that all the water doesn't leave the barrel before you put it back underwater or else the flow will be interrupted. Did that make any sense?:dance2:
I say avoid the roots if you can. Just focus on the areas that do not have plants in them. Just pass the vaccum over the area on top of the rooted plants to get any settled debris.
Maybe I'll send you a sequence of pictures showing the steps, though it will have to wait for the weekend because I have a lot of school work to do this week.