Water change without removing dirt

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batang_mcdo

Polypterus
MFK Member
Apr 24, 2006
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Manila
What would be the difference if during water change , i don't syphon the tank floor dirt? I usually siphon the dirt from my bare bottom tank but its really taking a long time cleaning all my tanks , i usually do weekly wc, but hinking of skipping siphoning the base sometimes , will my wc still be beneficial for my fish?


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I have sand bottoms in all my tanks and I never siphon the substrate... Usually I just pour the new water into the tank kinda fast so that it stirs up the debris on top of the sand into the water coloum and my filter does the rest!!! But if you have gravel substrate, you might wanna siphon it deep because the uneaten food and fish waste can get down into it!!!
 
When I did have gravel bottoms I used to do weekly wc's and gravel vac the bottom every other week. I agree with multiple tanks it can be a pain to gravel vac the bottom every week. Always worked for me. If your feeding loads then you might not be able to gravel vac every other week...I didn't feed a lot though.

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thanks :) My tanks are all bare buttom, though they are quite deep.
I just did a 40% wc today, but did not get to siphon the buttom of the tank.
i just removed the water and added it back, next week I'll siphon the buttom and if have time, will clean some chambers of my sumps.
will have to test the nitrate level also.
not sure if siphoning every other week instead of weekly will be bad?
 
Hmm. What size tank? I didn't know we were talking about a bare bottom tank. I can gravel vac my 180 with sand in 2-3 minutes while I'm using the python to drain water. Just need a larger gravel vac head and a decent size bucket. It shouldn't take that long to do a bare bottom tank...how long is it taking to gravel vac?
 
I always Vac my tanks Being Bare Bottom to sand or gravel... Like dr_sudz stated if you dont remove the Solid waste which turn out to be Nitrates after the BB Takes over which can be harmful to fish in high amounts never let mine get over 40ppm if so its a WC immeditaly for me IMO it may be a pain in the a** to clean a 4ft deep tank but i never cut corners on my prized fish take pride in your tanks and your fish will love you and live happily show what they mean to you as a Fellow Fish Keepers... Something else i do to help clean my big tanks... I took 3/4" pvc pipe put a ball valve at the end and a threaded nipple into the end of the ball valve to the intake of my old maxi jet 3000 via clear tube and ran another clear tube out the return portion of the pump out my window or my sink depending on tank can use the ball valve to control siphon... way better then the old fill the line the begin siphon if you as me...
 
Could you add some more circulation so the poo gets sucked into your filters more efficiently? I added a few power heads in hidden areas and I have no poo that settles on my sand, After about 3 days of messing with them to eliminate dead spots and get the current just right.
 
Changing the water is the most important, because what you don't see is the most destructive, but..
the detritus, beside breaking down into nitrate, can be a substrate for parasites such as ich spores, nematodes and such. While I do semi automatic water changes every day/every other day, I only vacuum once per week.
I use my pump to send old tank water out the window, and directly to the garden or yard.
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thanks :) wow thats a nice setup.
my tanks are 350 gallons, its been raining a lot here and my tanks are outdoor with a small roof. so what i did this week was place the hose to remove water, but i ran indoors lol, then when 30% water was removed i added back the water, but i was not able to siphon the dirt out.
currently i don't have filter wool in my sump, so i prefer the dirt to stay in my tank and and my sump as pure bio filter, dirtis siphioned out during wc, but i think it'll be easier to place a wavemaker and blow the dirt into the sump, i'll just clean the wool instead of having to siphon tank floor :)
 
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