Should i not gravel vac every water change!

[bigspizz]

Is there a nice stiff hose you can buy with a cup on the end that picks up the gravel and lets it fall back while the water is permanently removed?

Have you seen a gravel vac? Or better yet...Do you keep fish and have never seen a gravel vac?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Look into a Python. I couldn't live w/o one!

 

[bengalsfan47025]

Is there a nice stiff hose you can buy with a cup on the end that picks up the gravel and lets it fall back while the water is permanently removed?

Is this a serious Question??? I am not now to fish keeping either i was just wondering what everyone else does i was reading somebody elses thread and came across i only vac half my gravel one wek then the other half the next!

 

[guppy]

I lightly vac the gravel everytime I do a waterchange and filter cleaning, thoroughly gravel vac evry 2-3 time. I also run two filters and only clean one at a time. Unless you are running UGF it doesn't hurt to keep the gravel pristine, if you do use UGF vac only 1/3-1/2 each time. Ammonia spikes after gravel vaccing are from detritus being disturbed into the water column instead of being removed. Go slower and be gentle.

 

[brcacti]

I have seen the battery operated units that vacume gravel but the water stays in the tank, I assume there is a nice unit that vacumes as the water comes out for a water change. Yes I have seen the battery units.

 

[Fish Eat Fish]

I vac every week with my 20% WC. I recently removed all of my gravel and replaced it with flat slate rock so that I wont have to mess with trapped waste anymore. Even when i removed my gravel I did not see any spike so I would say it must just be the waste being disturbed and swept into the water column.

 

[Burtess]

There are bacteria in the gravel that add a lot of filtration. I do have of the gravel when I do a water change and the other have next time.

This is true, there are beneficial bacteria on the surfaces of the gravel that are exposed to oxygenated water, but gravel vac-ing should not remove the bacteria clinging to the surface of the gravel, it should only remove the waste trapped around and beneath.

That ammonia gets trapped under the gravel and will not be registered when you test your water normally. But when you vacuum the gravel, it comes out (never seen bubbles going up the hose while vacuuming?).

When you gravel vac, you do not release ammonia. By using any kind of gravel siphon, when you disturb the gravel, all the detritus should get sucked up and out, along with water. The bubbles you see are most probably hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which is the result of anaerobic decay, this is bad. Ammonia in the aquarium is dissolved in water, NH3 (ammonia) or NH4+ (ammonium), and should not be in a gaseous form.

Gravel vacuming is how you remove nitrates from your tank.

i beg to differ, water changes remove nitrates, gravel vaccing removes waste that hasnt broken down yet.

I vacuum the whole tank weekly and at the same time do a 50% WC...

I do this also, and have never had an ammonia spike. Keeps the nitrates below 20ppm by the end of the week too.

Burt

 

[gomezladdams]

I clean the substate just about every week.It doesnt affect the ugf unless you use a power gravel washer like the marineland canister attachment.

 

[Mystix212]

If done correctly and slowly, an ammonia spike or something like that after a gravel vac shouldnty even enter your mind. All I do is slowly place the gravel vac into the gravel, wait till everything has been sucked up then proceed to the next section of substrate. I do this every week with absolutely no clouding. Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[Alistriwen]

I clean the gravel in my tanks with substrate every time I do a water change. In some tanks this is 3 x a week 25% usually. Never had any problems doing that so far, and I've never noticed bubbles coming out of the gravel really either, just dirt. I always figured the more I took out, the less there was breaking down, the cleaner my water would be for the fish. Judging by the way people comment on my crystal clear water when they come to buy fish, I think it works.