Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning Gravel in a Heavily Planted Tank
Does anyone have advice on cleaning the gravel in a heavily planted tank?
Half of the floor is covered with a dense growth Crypts, and the remainder is dense with Bacopa and Cabomba. I'm currently using a Python gravel vac, but the large diameter tube doesn't get down to the substrate. I've tried smaller vacuum tubes, but they suck up the gravel. I've considered using a pump and tube as a "blower" to stir up the gravel and let the canister grab the particles. Jas anyone had success with this approach? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks, Larz |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning Gravel in a Heavily Planted Tank
I use a chopstick with a hose rubber-banded about four inches from the tip.
I stir up the gravel with the end of the chopstick and whatever is churned up gets siphoned... low-tech but effective. kush Larz wrote in message ... Does anyone have advice on cleaning the gravel in a heavily planted tank? Half of the floor is covered with a dense growth Crypts, and the remainder is dense with Bacopa and Cabomba. I'm currently using a Python gravel vac, but the large diameter tube doesn't get down to the substrate. I've tried smaller vacuum tubes, but they suck up the gravel. I've considered using a pump and tube as a "blower" to stir up the gravel and let the canister grab the particles. Jas anyone had success with this approach? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks, Larz |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning Gravel in a Heavily Planted Tank
Consider NOT cleaning your gravel at all! I rarely "clean" gravel. I have
done so when I had a cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) infestation that I thought was due to too much left-over food in the substrate. (II used to feed bloodworms a lot, and they seemed to cause this type of algae/bacteria outbreak if I let too much fall in a single spot that did not get eaten.) Although the vaccuming helped in this case, I have found that with more careful monitoring of my nitrate levels, cyanobacteria rarely bothers me any more even if there is a bit of a food build-up. For the most part, your plants should thrive on the mulm that gets deposited. If you really feel you must clean the substrate (say its been several years or it is really, really mucky and/or root-bound) then you probably should take plants out and replant them one small area at a time. (Crypts won't like this too much..) Once you have cleared an area, vaccume away the junk with your python. -Bruce Geist |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning Gravel in a Heavily Planted Tank
Yes, I should have noted that I do not clean the entire gravel bed. Because
of the terrace structure and various objects in some of my tanks there are usually relatively small areas in which crud and debris settle and accumulate, and those areas get cleaned. BruceKGeist wrote in message ... Consider NOT cleaning your gravel at all! I rarely "clean" gravel. I have done so when I had a cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) infestation that I thought was due to too much left-over food in the substrate. (II used to feed bloodworms a lot, and they seemed to cause this type of algae/bacteria outbreak if I let too much fall in a single spot that did not get eaten.) Although the vaccuming helped in this case, I have found that with more careful monitoring of my nitrate levels, cyanobacteria rarely bothers me any more even if there is a bit of a food build-up. For the most part, your plants should thrive on the mulm that gets deposited. If you really feel you must clean the substrate (say its been several years or it is really, really mucky and/or root-bound) then you probably should take plants out and replant them one small area at a time. (Crypts won't like this too much..) Once you have cleared an area, vaccume away the junk with your python. -Bruce Geist |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning Gravel in a Heavily Planted Tank
BruceKGeist wrote:
Consider NOT cleaning your gravel at all! I rarely "clean" gravel. Count my vote with Bruce on this one. Flourite is great, Flourite plus a year's worth of mulm is better. Ask me next year how much the plants like Flourite plus two years of mulm! Of course, I'm talking about a heavily planted tank with CO2. My quarrantine/breeding tank and my daughter's betta tank get regular, complete vacuumings, about half the tank each water change. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Feeding Discus in Heavily Planted Tank/Amano Shrimp | Freshwater Aquaria Plants | |||
fish for a heavily-planted tank? | Freshwater Aquaria Plants | |||
do heavily-planted tanks still get "old tank" syndrome? | Freshwater Aquaria Plants | |||
do heavily-planted tanks still get "old tank" syndrome? | Freshwater Aquaria Plants | |||
What is medium, moderate and heavily Planted tank? | Freshwater Aquaria Plants |