Gravel Vacuuming

[pinballqueen]

I have read a few threads over the past few days that the subject of vacuuming was brought up....

So, since I haven't seen a thread started on it yet, do you or don't you think it's a good Idea to vacuum your tank? I have seen hints and whispers of a very good debate, but nobody has actually put both sides of the coin in one thread before....

Me? I'm of mixed emotions about it. I have always tried to get the nasties off the top of the gravel, but I tried not to stir the whole bottom up if I could help it, mainly for aesthetics (nasty brown bits in the water, disturbed plants shedding leaves...). My current tank has a sand substrate, so I can't vacuum it...I have cories in it to keep things stirred up...

So, someone convince me to go one way or the other....

Broaden my horizons, I dare you...

 

[Pootspete]

Pinballqueen, I am with you. I too try and get the nasty's off the top of the gravel first, especially when it comes to my snail, who leave a lot of tid bits for me to clean up after. I say to myself, "just do the surface" only to find myself then doing a "deep" cleaning and getting more of the gunk underneath the gravel.

So I go both ways.

 

[Richer]

Depends on what tank I'm gravel vaccing. If its my plant tanks, I won't touch the substrate unless I need to. The most I do is a light surface vac of the top of the substrate to keep things looking neat. On my fish only tanks I do deep vacs. I try to gravel vac everything I can reach all the way down to the glass. Tanks with sand don't need to be vacuumed deeply, a surface skim should surfice as waste tends to collect at the top of the sand surface.

HTH
-Richer

 

[Sumpin'fishy]

How do you keep soil from getting compacted if you only gently clean the top? Doesn't aquatic substrate get compacted over time like garden soil? If you have a technique to keeping it from compacting, tell me what you think are the best techniques, please.

I have 2 fish only tanks thus far, so I vac all the way to the glass bottom. First I skim the debris off the top of the soil. Then I go back over it all digging deep until i can see clear water in each plunge. I found alot of detritus got kicked up into the water column off the top of the rest of the substrate if I didn't skim the top without disturbing the actual gravel first. It tends to clean better that way, IMO.

 

[Richer]

My plant tanks are the only tanks that don't get gravel vacs to the extent that my FO tanks get. The substrate doesn't get compacted mainly because of the network of plant roots that go through it. Any area thats not planted will get a normal gravel vac.

HTH
-Richer

 

[Sumpin'fishy]

I figured it would still eventually compact and become less productive, even if just a little less productive. Do you think it would be advantageous to stick a thin rod into the soild every inch or so maybe once a year?

 

[RTR]

Planted tanks get only above_the_surface skimming with the vac, FO get vac'd to the glass. Very much as Richer practices, but I have no sand substrates.

Sometimes substrates do need "rebuilding" - which is really reduction of the organic load. Stands of crypts, Val, and old swords may build up sufficient masses of no longer living roots that there is an advantage to cleaning it all out and replanting after the old masses of dead roots are removed. I probably average about 3 years on that. But note this is not tank-wide, it is just where particular plant groups are overgrown and no longer vigorous.

 

[SusanA]

If you have undergravel filters, it is crucial that you vacuum all the way to the plate. If not, IMO it's still a good idea for fish-only tanks. All that stuff you're trying not to stir up has to go somewhere, and it should go out of the tank, not be left to develop anaerobic pockets under the gravel.

In planted tanks, the roots of the plants keep the gravel healthy and aerated. If you have loaches or other burrowing fish, you might still be able to get away with it. In lightly planted or fish-only tanks, I would still vacuum thoroughly at least twice a month with your regular water change.

Just my thoughts.