WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO KEEP gravel CLEAN?

Question

besides vacoums at the least

-Ivan

Answer 1

Gravel vacs are really the only effective way to clean the gravel without sending the tank and the fish into fits and possible major water quality issues.

MM

Answer 2

Hahaha, i have such a healthy bactieria culture in the tank, the gravel is always clean, and the fish are always pearlescent, u gotta get bactieria that can erode a penny, it just eats away at anything settled on or in the gravel, no worries about them shitting too much or overfeeding, the secret is filters, sponge filters provide a good bactieria, wet\dry filters are the best, it gets airborne and spongeborne bactieria inot the tank, and an underground gravel filter, if u get all 3 of these filters working in one tank, u will seriously **** urself until ur dead or u get rid of the tank, all u have to do is feed and replace water, i havent cleaned my gravel in a long long time, and the pinks are super pink, adn the blues are a nice deep blue, looks like brand new gravel, also, i dont clean the backside of my tank, the whole backside of the wall willg et coated in green slimey stuff, thats adding more beneficial bactieria, teh more beneficial bactieria u got, the better, they all work together in providing a virtualy maintinence free aquarium

Answer 3

If you don't want to siphon or vacuum your gravel, the only way to be sure the gunk doesn't build up under it and eventually poison your fish is to use live plants in your tank. They'll use the gunk build-up as fertilizer.

However, you'll still have to research the plants and make sure you get some that can survive whatever maintenance and equipment you're willing to put into it because many of them require more elbow grease than a simple gravel vac.

It's really not that hard...

Answer 4

just go ahead an spend $11- $20 and get the gravel Vac. it's really the most effective means of cleaning gravel efficiently.
Trust me...you'll end up spending the money anyways...
if not on a vac. then it'll be on chemical additives/fish meds instead.

Answer 5

Live plants or bottom dwelling fish. depending on what fish you keep. For tropical a group of corys is a great addition, they eat all food left at the bottom, my certanainly keep my gravel clean as when i vacum/syphon the gravel only small amounts of muck comes out, hardly noticble.

Answer 6

OK the best way?
use and undergravel filter.
not your situation?
ok then just vacume out the debris (uneaten food ect) on the surface of the gravel.
most of what is under the gravel is benificial bacteria that helps break down waist.
belive it or not PLASTIC plants help more than live becouse they build up more bactiria to help keep the water clean.

Answer 7

regular water cycling, take out atleast 25 % of water once a week and replace with clean filtered water and use your conditioners and maintian stable ph balances and what not. Dont over feed fish. and a combination of filters help to. Ideally i like to use undergravel filters, dirt magnets ( a foam circle that airates), a overhang filter, and i have smaller fish so i like a siamese algea eater or some koradoras in my tank. Byut that is what i use for my larger tanks. Make shure your filter is strong enough to handle however many gallons in your tanks. it seems tedious and expensive but it is really really worth it.

Answer 8

The less you can disturb the substrate the better. Just a siphon or gravel vac is all that's needed.

Answer 9

Siphon or vac. Also try not to overfeed as this can create excessive waste. Also make sure your tank is not overcrowded and that you have the right size filter.

Answer 10

Gravel vac. Algae eaters add as much to the mess as they take away from it (i.e., they poop a lot).