Water changes in a planted tank

[koimes]

Hi there!

Sorry if this is a nub question, but I have a heavily planted tank (25 gallon) and I'm learning about water changes and using a gravel vaccuum to suck the mulm at the bottom of the tank, okay that's easy enough to understand, but what should I do if I have alot of plants (especially plants rooted by their stems which are VERY easily pulled out of the sand)?

Thanks alot!

 

[bigbadfish711]

Well if you have sand you are only going to be able to vacuum the top with out vacuuming out a lot of the sand. When I had gravel in my planted tank I never vacuumed the gravel. I only vacuumed out what was on the top and I do the same with the sand.

 

[fishmamma]

I have that Eco something or another in my planted, so I don't vac at all... besides the plants need that poop and some left over food to thrive better... I know some that don't do WC at all... due to it being planted and the balance that is achieved by having plants .. I don't know all the details on how that works.. but really if your parameters are good .. there is no need to do a WC. I could be wrong though.. but from my experience this pretty much works out of me..

 

[jcardona1]

Water changes are always good, as it replenishes your water's buffering capacity that gets used up over time (kh). Not only that, plants need a certain kh level to thrive. If you let the kh drop by not doing water changes, your plants could suffer and you leave the tank open to big ph swings.

 

[Kogo]

I do 80%-90% water changes on my planted 180g every few weeks (Prime and tap water). I never disturb the gravel if I can help it.