would removing gravel be a bad idea?
- Thread starter DclownD
- Start date
i personally would think yes it would be a bad idea, as the bottom dwelling fish scrounge around the gravel looking for food which helps clean the tank also with no gravel means no plants which in turn leads to more pollution creating a viscious circle which you intended to avoid in the beginning......
Quite a few people do run bare bottomed tanks. I can't say how it would work with the pleco, as I have never kept one, but as for all the other fish I'd say it would be a good thing, just from what I have heard, not from any personal experience other than my hospital tank.
You can keep potted plants in a bare bottom tank. It would be much easier to clean, I believe.
How thick is your gravel? How are your nitrate readings? The reason I ask is I'm wondering if there's some reason your gravel is staying dirty enough to be giving you problems. Is overfeeding a possibility? Is the pleco producing too much waste? I usually vacuum about half my tank with each water change of 25-40% and it's not dirty enough to make me want to continue until the water is nearly gone, which it sounds as though that's what you are experiencing.
You can keep potted plants in a bare bottom tank. It would be much easier to clean, I believe.
How thick is your gravel? How are your nitrate readings? The reason I ask is I'm wondering if there's some reason your gravel is staying dirty enough to be giving you problems. Is overfeeding a possibility? Is the pleco producing too much waste? I usually vacuum about half my tank with each water change of 25-40% and it's not dirty enough to make me want to continue until the water is nearly gone, which it sounds as though that's what you are experiencing.
looking at ur sig, you will probbably not like whAT I AM GOING TO say BeCAUse The GrAVeL ConTaIN ALOt Of THE bacTEria tHAT kEEp THe Tank HEAlTHy SO YOU WILL PRoBaBBLy LOsE FiSH FRom AmmOnIa SpIkEs. only a few plants will be easy to attatch to driftwood. If the siphon is not strong enought to clean gravel thourughly, get a new bigger one or try lowering the out end of the hose further, i noticed that hooking my python to the sink takes a while to drain and has weak vacume, but i took it from the faucet once its goin to the toilet and viola, it drains 10x faster. i think i would steeer way far away from that road imho.
yeah, thats what id do first. the reason i said no to taking way gravel is that the bio filter has established itself in the gravel so you would be removing alot of bacteria, however if you had established the tank with no gravel, there would be no prob.... but why no gravel, isnt that hideous. unless your breeding or selling fish i think that no gravewl just looks odd! (trying to be nice, i know some dont use gravel, my opinion tho)
Actually, a larger vacuum will make it harder for you to clean the tank without taking out a lot more water. Larger vacuums have larger tubes, so the water drains before you can properly clean the gravel if you're using one that's too big.
It sounds to me like you need to practice more with your gravel vacuum. A lot of people will vacuum only about 1/2 of the gravel with each water change, and do the other half the next week.
It sounds to me like you need to practice more with your gravel vacuum. A lot of people will vacuum only about 1/2 of the gravel with each water change, and do the other half the next week.
I did say that, but I was more pointing to someone needing to do more than one water change a week. The gravel bed should be vaced once a week.
Personally I vac the bed 100% each week. I would rather the colonies be stronger in my filters. I tend to change my tanks around a lot and like to be free to remove the gravel if I want without any ill effects. Not to mention this makes for an overall cleaner tank.
And bare bottomed tanks if done with a lil aquascaping in mind can be very pleasant to look at.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y120/xyshannen/Tanks/ShannenDiscusTank.jpg
Edit: In the case of the origional poster...Don't remove your gravel until your done cycling. They told you why up there ^
Personally I vac the bed 100% each week. I would rather the colonies be stronger in my filters. I tend to change my tanks around a lot and like to be free to remove the gravel if I want without any ill effects. Not to mention this makes for an overall cleaner tank.
And bare bottomed tanks if done with a lil aquascaping in mind can be very pleasant to look at.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y120/xyshannen/Tanks/ShannenDiscusTank.jpg
Edit: In the case of the origional poster...Don't remove your gravel until your done cycling. They told you why up there ^
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I disagree with the need to vac 100% every week but that's just a matter of opinion.