Cleaning around plants

[hcky4206sic6]

Sorry if this topic has come up in the past, I searched but did not find anything. This is my first time having a tank with live plants. How do you clean effectively around the roots of the plants without destroying or disturbing them? I have heard that plants generally clean waste that is around them, but in my recent cleanings, have noticed more waste than I would like around them. So what is the best method to cleaning around them? Thanks for all the input!

 

[Drunken]

I would clean it like you would if you have sand as substrate, ie hower about ½ inch above the substrate with ½ inch tube/gardenhose to get alot of suction compared to a gravel vac

 

[chesterthehero]

I would clean it like you would if you have sand as substrate, ie hower about ½ inch above the substrate with ½ inch tube/gardenhose to get alot of suction compared to a gravel vac

thats prettymuch it... from time to time i do a "deep" cleaning.. that usuially involves uprooting the plants.. for that i dig everything up and move it out of the way then replant it... doing it a section at a time is a lot easyer than digging up everything then having to replant it all at once...

 

[hcky4206sic6]

thats prettymuch it... from time to time i do a "deep" cleaning.. that usuially involves uprooting the plants.. for that i dig everything up and move it out of the way then replant it... doing it a section at a time is a lot easyer than digging up everything then having to replant it all at once...

Thanks When I bought the plants they died partially and are now starting to come back to life again. Will this same thing happen if I uproot them and replant them?

 

[jcardona1]

i dont even go near the plants during water changes

 

[netiton.com]

I steer clear of the plants in my tank during cleaning. Last time I tried to uproot a plant, I discovered roots growing out over 18 inches long and tangled up in the roots of other plants in the sand substrate. It has been my experience that leaving them alone has kept them healthy and flourishing. Good luck!

 

[hcky4206sic6]

Neither one of you run into the problem of too much waste forming around them? If i take my finger and stir up the water around it, I'll get more debris floating around than I would like.

 

[jcardona1]

no debris here!!! youll find that once a planted tank is established and maintained properly, its pretty much self cleaning.

you also need a cleaner crew in there. get a bunch of otos and shrimp

 

[AtomBat]

any estimate on how many otos/shirimp are in your tank?

 

[jcardona1]

any estimate on how many otos/shirimp are in your tank?

i know i have 5 otos for sure. as for the red cherry shrimp, i started out with 30. they bred like crazy, some disappeared, and now im seeing babies again. i have no idea how many shrimp are in there