cleaning the gravel...?

[ryanjcalifornia]

OK! a few questions regarding cleaning the gravel in my tank...I'm going to list what I think would be a good way to go about it, and you guys can edit, and correct me as your knowledge and experience sees fit...thank you so much for your help in advance.

So, I've had the tank up for 6 months, and I guess early on I overfed, or something, and i didn't know about gravel vac until 3 months into the process. So, today, when i gravel vacced, it seemed like there was so much more junk still left in there, so I thought, maybe I should clean the gravel?

First off, is this a good idea?

If it is, should i, put all of the water and fish into some other water holding device, and empty the tank of all of the things and hose it out, and clean the gravel and then put the water and fish back in?

is there a way you guys would suggest doing it? Or suggest against doing this?

Thank you so much for your time and thoughts.

 

[Avalon]

Detrius will collect in the gravel no matter how much you clean it. It seems as if you can never remove all of it, nothing short of a 1500x per gallon filter in a 10 gallon. I would not worry about it. I keep breeding tanks with only gravel and fish. I rarely clean the gravel, and these tanks are overstocked. All fish are in perfect health, and have been since conception, most well over a year ago.

I must state that you keep the water changed on a regular basis, along with keeping all water param's stable. I change my water about once a week, providing I have the time. I vary their foods, and even skip a day every so often, about once a week.

Kicking up detrius can reduce the life of your filter, which means that the bacterial colonies may suffer, either by having to rebuild, or restart--equating to a re-cycling process, depending on the type of filter you have.

I normally don't clean the gravel. I never clean the gravel in any of my planted tanks. I will skim the surface, but I don't stick the siphon in the gravel to suck the stuff out. If you keep a stable and disease-free tank, then you should not have problems. Biology has a way of taking care of itself, as long as you take care of the process.

 

[ryanjcalifornia]

Avalon, thanks for your great response!

I do water changes weekly...

but doesn't the gravel vaccing help the clarity? Every time I gravel vac it seems that 45 minutes later the water is no longer dusty like it was, but crystal clear.

Or is that the fact that I just changed the water and has nothing to do with the vaccing of the gravel?

did you say that gravel vaccing hurts the filter? How so? I have two topfin filters HOB one 15 and one 20...

thanks again for the help!

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by ryanjcalifornia
but doesn't the gravel vaccing help the clarity? Every time I gravel vac it seems that 45 minutes later the water is no longer dusty like it was, but crystal clear.

Or is that the fact that I just changed the water and has nothing to do with the vaccing of the gravel?

Changing the water has noting to do with water clarity when clarity was not a problem to begin with.

Gravel vacuuming would appear to remove a truckload of waste when you do vacuum, but there's more waste left in the bottom you would like to know about. Leave it the heck alone. Keep the water changes up.

When you disturb this crap, it enables your filter to suck up more junk, filling up your filter's capacity much more quickly. This is what you do not want. You want your filter media, no matter what it is, to collect a colony of bacteria. Bacteria can break down any solid/physical material present and turn it into a dissolved waste product, only to be removed by water changes. If you change your filter all of the time, what does your bacteria grow on and remain long enough to be effective? This is why cannister filters are superior to hang on back types. Cannisters provide "gardens" for bacteria to grown in. They provide superior biological filtration by keeping these "gardens" of bacteria for several months at a time before they need cleaning. This is a result of course pre-filters. Removing physical debris is a secondary effect. What's most important is filtering "clear" water, or filtering dissolved substances into water containing harmless substances (nitrates). Over time, nitrates can build up to toxic levels. They can only be removed by water changes. Water changes also provide your fish with 100% saturation levels of oxygen. Fish like this. That another reason you should keep the water changed at least once per week.