Gravel Cleaning

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nzafi

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Mar 14, 2008
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Anyone here get away with just not doing it? I had bare bottom for ages and then got bored and put fluorite in the tank. My concern now is that I am not ever vacuuming the gravel. The plan was to run my drip (20% daily change) and then dose the tank with probiotics. Does anyone else get away with not cleaning the gravel?

When I last checked my nitrates were staying aroudn 10ppm which isn't bad but I am getting paranoid over time there will be huge build up in the gravel. Thoughts?
 
The substrate will need turning over at the very least to stop gass build up. May as well vac at the same time, only takes me 10 min on a 215 gal
 
I've had flourite mixed with another substrate and used malaysian trumpet snails to stir the substrate for me, but I also had plants. No gravel cleaning there other than stirring up the very top layer that wasn't planted when I did a WC. Supposedly if you keep the base under 1.5 - 2" with the snails and plants you shouldn't build up any gasses.

But... I'm not an expert and this may not be true without the MTS and plants, so take that as you will. :)
 
Only ever heard of gas build up with sand and not gravel. My substrate is probably 1in if not less. Put just enough to cover the bottom.
 
Just curious if anyone else had any feedback on this. I have started dosing with probiotics. I did some quick gravel vac the other day and was amazed at how much crap was under the gravel.
 
In my opinion you should vac the gravel. I had a fully planted setup with eco complete planted gravel in there and it was high-tech with almost a full carpet. Was having lots of problems, fish getting infections, new fish dying, pH swinging inbetween changes. Started vacuuming the gravel and problems stopped. I think bare-bottom with high flow directing poop to filter intakes is the only good way to avoid vacuuming
 
nzafi said:
Anyone here get away with just not doing it? I had bare bottom for ages and then got bored and put fluorite in the tank. My concern now is that I am not ever vacuuming the gravel. The plan was to run my drip (20% daily change) and then dose the tank with probiotics. Does anyone else get away with not cleaning the gravel?

When I last checked my nitrates were staying aroudn 10ppm which isn't bad but I am getting paranoid over time there will be huge build up in the gravel. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I find that I can get away with it for a bit, but eventually it needs to be done or you run into problems. If it is a shallow bed, it could be something as simple as stirring it prior to a water change.
 
Even when using probiotics, getting mulm out of the substrate is a good idea.
Too much mulm can be a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria, that if left unchecked, can out compete the good bacteria.
Many of the desirable probiotic type are aerobic, and a buildup of mule can create anoxic conditions which favor undesirable species.
I don't believe one should consider using probiotics as a panacea to avoid needed maintenance.
 
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