how do you vacum gravel of a fish tank without touching any aquatic plants?

Question

have some aquatic plants in 5 gal tank. it's hard to vacum the gravel without touching the plants. All of my plant are floating in the top after I vacum it.so i need to replant them again.
any idea about vacum gravel without touching the plants?

Answer 1

All I can really say is be really careful and don't dig too deeply around the plants. You'll eventually get the hang of it.

MM

Answer 2

You don't mention what plants they are, given space you can partition the gravel to make it deeper in certain places thus providing more for the root structure to build in, unless your problem is an over growth that you cant get through with the vac.

Answer 3

you may...yet...with out sand or gravel, you might have no longer something to hold the vegetation down, and no way for the roots to take carry. There are some categories of floating vegetation which you may desire to get, yet I have not got any thought if this might help your bettas spawn.

Answer 4

I would try to affix a smaller vacuum attachment to the end of the hose.

You may want to empty half the water so you would have better control of the vacuum. Use a cup to bail the water and store it in a pitcher if you plan to reuse it. If not, add distilled water. Instead of distilled water we used to let water stand in a pitcher overnight before adding it to the tank.

Answer 5

Hello...that's how it's gonna be..gotta keep things clean, plants aren't as important as the live fish or whatever you have in the tank !! Take Care :)

Answer 6

just be careful and grab them out. At your local fish store they might sell those sucker things

Answer 7

very carefully