gravel and amonia and nitrites question
- Thread starter brcacti
- Start date
Hopefully your gravel is not that dirty... it very well may. But, you should be doing a water change while gravel vacing, so that should prevent any real problems.
nope! not unless you are using very small almost sand like gravel which is liable to be compacted.if your gravel is anything above 2-3mm ne probs!!
brcacti;1815585; said:Will stiring up dirty gravel cause an amonia or nitrite spike? Has anyone tried testing before and after this??????????????????????????????????////
yes it can
absolutly. I think this is a big reason that a lot of MFKers like substrate-free tanks (I personally think it's just plain wrong).
Yes, you do have to work a little harder to keep it clean.
Yes, you can actually make the water conditions worse after cleaning if you don't do it right, or often enough.
Yes, it looks better.
Yes, you can do it with or without; it's your tank!
If you are not using the gravel vac everytime you do a WC, you should. If you already are, you should probably step up your WC schedule IMHO.
Yes, you do have to work a little harder to keep it clean.
Yes, you can actually make the water conditions worse after cleaning if you don't do it right, or often enough.
Yes, it looks better.
Yes, you can do it with or without; it's your tank!
If you are not using the gravel vac everytime you do a WC, you should. If you already are, you should probably step up your WC schedule IMHO.
As stated, yes, is the short answer. Why would you stir up the substrate without cleaning it with a gravel vac while doing a water change? Even then, you may notice temporary spikes. Or was that what you were referring to?