I wouldn't be to aggressive in cleaning the substrate because the mulm
contains many organisms that breakdown waste so that plant root systems can
more easily absorb the nutrients. In real life, I imagine the bottom of
waterways contains a lot of this stuff -doesn't hurt the fish as much as
running a sterile environment with poor plant growth.
"Jim Morcombe" wrote in message
...
Cut a plastic Coke bottle in half. Stick a bit of tube in the mouth of
the
bottle and glue it in place.

Use the large end of the botle to vacuum the sand.

Jim


Dinky wrote in message
news:S09Bb.470779$Tr4.1299527@attbi_s03...

"john west ++++" wrote in message
...
hi, the gravel in my tank contains a lot of dirt. i have a syphon but
when
put it near the gravel it sucks up stones and then clogs up.

Is there any neat way to clean away the dirt in the gravel without
spooning
it all out of the tank. thanking you for any assistance yours
john
west


Either use a smaller guage tube for your vacuuming, or, what I do, hold
the
vacuum in one hand, and use your other hand to pinch the tube to reduce
the
flow. This way I can use the same tube for my tank with large gravel
that
I
use for my sand tanks.

billy