gravel cleaning please help?

Question

i discoverd today when i cleaned the side of my tank with my tank magnet that there is some dirt on the bottom of my tank i have heard of a tank vacuum is this esential to have or will my fish be fine without it?

Answer 1

Gravel cleaning is actually more for aesthetics than hygiene. If you have an under-gravel filter, the water is constantly pulled through the gravel bed and the bacteria on the gravel, which includes some of the "yucky stuff" I think you are referring to. Without the UG filter, the bacteria in the gravel is extremely minimal in bacterial filtration. and can be vacuumed heavily with no ill affects.

When an under gravel is being used, and my personal opinion is that everyone should have one, even if using an outside filter, vacuuming is a a little different. You should just lightly vacuum the top 1/2 layer. All of the UG's I use have a minimum of 3 ports you can put an extension tube on to pull the water up, either powered by an air pump or preferably by a power filter, which greatly increases filtration. You will never be using all of these ports, so I pull the gravel back away from one , uncap it, and place the vacuum directly over the port. Any loose trash , etc. on the bottom underneath the filter that is not beneficial will come flying out of there.

I hope I answered your question, but will be glad to help some more if you will just drop me an email. Good luck!

Answer 2

The reason you want to use one is that the "dirt" you see is accumulated fish feces, and maybe uneaten food, dead leaves of plants, or pieces of driftwood that fall off (if you have either of these in your tank). If they remain in the tank, they decompose and add to the ammonia and nitrie in the tank (both are toxic to your fish) and nitrate (which fertilizes algae).

So it's best for the health of your fish (and your water quality) if you remove them. Use the gravel vaccum to siphon these out (along with water) when you do regular tank cleaning - all you should need to remove is about 25% of the water each week. This won't allow you to clean deeply into all the gravel each time, but clean any wastes lying on the top of the gravel, as well as about 1/3 of the gravel to about 1" deep. Just change areas each time you clean.

NOTE: There are far more "good" bacteria in the tank than "bad" in most instances. The "good" bacteria are those that convert the toxic ammonia and nitrite to nitrate (which is safer for the fish) and those that decompose larger pieces of debris (leaves, wood) to smaller ones. These aren't types that cause fish disease. These are able to stick to surfaces (mostly aquarium gralve and your filter media) so you don't have to worry about removing them as you do water changes.

Answer 3

The gravel is where all the fish poop goes. It is necessary to vacuum the gravel every time you do a water change (every 2 weeks, 20%) in order to keep your aquarium healthy. It's best however, not to do all the gravel at once, as it does hold beneficial bacteria and food for your live plants. (If you have them.) Vacuum 1/2 the first month, and the other 1/2 the next.

Answer 4

You definitely need a gravel vacuum to suck up the waste from the bottom of your tank,they are only about 5 dollars and without one you will have trouble sooner or later.You should vacuum the gravel and do a 20% water change once a week to keep waste form building up in your tank and to keep your fish healthy.

Answer 5

This is essential to the aquarium since it takes out all that junk on the bottom that occur in your tank. I would recommend that you do this every week.

Answer 6

the gravle is what holds all the bacteria it is bad if you dont clean your fishes gravel your fish can get what is called ick which is a kind of white suff you can see on the fish and the fish can die and infect the other fish in the tank so yes you need to clean the gravel in your fishes tank.

Answer 7

its ok
it wont hurt ur fish
just make sure that ur Filter is working