i vac the grave 2 times a week atm while cycling, wensdays i do a 10% water change, saturdays I do a 25% water change, so as to make the cycling less stress on the fish
Can you OVER filter?
- Thread starter andi872
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Actually, you don't. Especially not with plants.
When you don't have an UGF you are not supposed to gravel vac the entire substrate as you are when you have a UGF. You should only use the siphon to lift detritus off the surface of the gravel.
I'd recommend anyone who uses a gravel vacuum read this:
The Silent Killer
About half my tanks are planted and the rest are not...I do deep gravel vacs on all of them. There is something to be said about properly setting up a plenum for denitrification benefits, but simply going around telling people to not vacuum their tanks is not it. I've had tanks running for several years, doing weekly gravel vacs down to the glass, with gravel and sand, and have yet to see this "silent killer" phenomenon. The only say I see that happening is neglecting a sand substrate for several months and then stirring it up. With regular maintenance this is not a concern.
now here is a new question is sand or gravel better and if sand; what kind would you buy for a fresh water tank, all i see at pesmart is for salt water tanks
Its pretty much personal preference. I have used pool filter sand and play sand in tanks; the pool sand is much cleaner. The play sand is finer much very dusty so requires a lot of rinsing before putting it in the tank. You cna also get CaribSea tahitian moon sand, which is a fine black sand. My LFS also sells white sugar sand that can be used in either sw or fw. The advantage to pool sand or play sand is that its like 8 bucks for a 50lb bag, way cheaper than anything you'll get at the LFS.
haha yeah join the club...and i've been at it for a while...it doesn't change. which is a good thing.
i have two sandy bottom tanks now; first one was play sand-- $3.75 for a 50 pound bag from lowes. rinsed it a dozen times and it was clean but still silty when i added water; however running the filter for a day cleared it up pretty quick-- note that it wasn't DIRT in the water, just the too-tiny-to-settle bits.
the second tank actually was already a gravel-bottom tank, but i thought it looked ugly with the different colors of gravel and beach glass bits, so i scooped it out, and carefully added sand-- this time pool filter sand, about $9 for 50 pounds. much less hazy than the play sand, and I got it from a pool supply place near my house. it's whiter sand, and a bit coarser, and i think it's much better than the play sand.
next time i'd remove the fish first though-- but they didn't seem to mind it looking blizzardy for a bit. probably very exciting for them, but it didn't stress them out excessively. the next day they were fine. i think they enjoy being able to root around in the sand a bit too.
the second tank actually was already a gravel-bottom tank, but i thought it looked ugly with the different colors of gravel and beach glass bits, so i scooped it out, and carefully added sand-- this time pool filter sand, about $9 for 50 pounds. much less hazy than the play sand, and I got it from a pool supply place near my house. it's whiter sand, and a bit coarser, and i think it's much better than the play sand.
next time i'd remove the fish first though-- but they didn't seem to mind it looking blizzardy for a bit. probably very exciting for them, but it didn't stress them out excessively. the next day they were fine. i think they enjoy being able to root around in the sand a bit too.
Breeders often perform 100% water replacement every 1-2 hours, but that's a whole different level of fish keeping form us 'common folk' 
As others have said, you cannot over filter or cycle you water, but you can cause too much water flow (current).
As others have said, you cannot over filter or cycle you water, but you can cause too much water flow (current).
