How do you gravel vac with short groundcover plants??

[Heady]

How do you vacuum the gravel when you have short groundcover plants, without damaging their root systems or the plants themselves?

I would like to add some of this type of plant to my new 100 gallon but can't seem to figure out how to vacuum the gravel once the plants are covering the gravel.

 

[wetmanNY]

One of the main services groundcover plants provide the fishkeeper is that they make it impossible to stir up the gravel or mix aerobic nitrifying and other bacteria helterskelter with anaerobic bacteria now suddenly poisoned by oxygen, stirring organic debris down into low-oxygen levels and making phosphates available to algae, etc etc...

 

[Heady]

So, it is OK to never stir up your gravel? It does not matter if anaerobic spots form?

Would burrowing loaches such as kuhlie or weather loaches uproot the plants?

 

[Fishiebusiness]

Ground cover plants like glosso are pretty hard to pull up once they've grown in well. I wouldnt worry about fish pulling them up.

 

[Matak]

One of the main services groundcover plants provide the fishkeeper is that they make it impossible to stir up the gravel or mix aerobic nitrifying and other bacteria helterskelter with anaerobic bacteria now suddenly poisoned by oxygen, stirring organic debris down into low-oxygen levels and making phosphates available to algae, etc etc...

Informative Wetman, but I am still not clear as to your recomendation. Could you dumb it down a little for we of the slight of understanding?

 

[wetmanNY]

Gravel vacuuming is a holdover from turtle tanks. ...I guess that's what I meant!

All substrates are very low in oxygen, within hours of the vacuuming. I vacuum over the surface. I blow stuff up off the gravel. I replant only when (way beyond) necessary. I try not to disturb the substrate. ...my tanks are all planted, and I don't have big gravel-shifting cichlids-- so it does depend, doesn't it...

My big Botia modesta can uproot pretty well established stuff. Try growing plants wedged between two cobbles with their flat sides facing each other.

 

[Matak]

Ahh, I get it now.

Your the Wizard of Ahhhhs!

Would you recomend this vaccuming procedure for light to moderately planted tanks as well? I think I would much prefer to vac in the manner you've described.