# how deep and how often do you vacuum



## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

I rarely vac the gravel since the tank is planted. But I do move the stump that my pleco live in a vac the heck out of that area cause he stays in there most of the time and that's where most of his waste is concentrated. He gets mad when I do it too and I have to keep nudging him out of the way.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Most people with planted tanks don't "vacuum" their substrate. Detritus and mulm ends up being beneficial for plant health and eventually becomes a part of the substrate.

Unless you've been severely overfeeding or have a problem with waste, it shouldn't be necessary. What exactly drives you to vacuum? What type of substrate do you have?


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## C.Barb. (Oct 10, 2012)

I have a mix of fluorite and gravel for my substrate . I vacuum once a month real thorough in the open areas ( around my plants ) . I'll go as deep as I can . 10 fish in a 29 gal .... I'll vacuum first w batt powered vac , then w a siphon vac ...... How often you vacuum depends on how much live stock you have ....... On a side note , I love watching my Cory's and cherry barbs get excited and sift through all the stirred up gravel .


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I take off what is on the surface of the substrate. If I see a pile of debris I will pump the siphon over the area without disturbing the ground cover plants to pull it all up.


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## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

Im using eco-complete. I thought you were supposed to vacuum. when I do vacuum I just vacuumed the open areas and I don't even move the driftwood. Now looking at my tank I think I got moved a trip with it might be pretty nasty under there.


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

Too heavily planted to gravel vac in my main tanks--though I'll vac an area if it's being cleared during a re-scape. Mostly I just time my wc/filter rinse schedules to any re-scaping so stirred up detrius is pulled from the system. The rest is handled is hand pulling dead plant material, not over-feeding and plethora of clean up crew: corys, ottos, nerites, ghost shrimp, neos, pond-ramshorn-MTS and various substrate ooglie-booglies.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

I usually just wave the vaccuum tube just above the substrate. I don't want to remove nutrients from within the substrate, just from the top for appearance. I do occasionally vaccuum the substrate against the glass when it starts to look bad.


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## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

ooglie-booglies 

These ooglie-booglies do they come in colors:icon_mrgr


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

zzrguy said:


> ooglie-booglies
> 
> These ooglie-booglies do they come in colors:icon_mrgr


Yep. Dig into my substrate and you'll eventually find the entire cast of Monsters Inc.


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## Action53 (Jul 28, 2012)

I usually only vacuume when my gravel starts to look yucky, just In the open spots.


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## whickerda (Sep 22, 2009)

I never vacuum the substrate of my planted tanks.


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Vacuuming Substrate*



zzrguy said:


> How deep into the subrate do you vaccum? Just the top1/4 or deeper.
> 
> How often do you vacuum your tank?
> I'm back to me every 2 to 3 water changes But just the top say quarter inch. All my numbers are in good parameters 00 15to 25.


Hello zz...

There's really no need to vacuum the gravel, just remove half the water in the tank once a week. The reason is, everything, especially the wastes the fish produce, dissolve in the water. So, just remove half the tank water every week and you'll guarantee pure water conditions for your fish and plants.

By flushing a lot of pure, treated tap water through your tank every week, there's no time for toxins to build up in the water before the next water change.

Pretty simple.

B


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I hate to sound like I'm beating a dead horse by constantly commenting on this particular issue but removing half your tank water every week is bad/misleading advice. I in no way mean to come off as sounding rude.

As others have mentioned, gently remove things that are unsightly. Leave the rest to act as plant fertilizer.

Just don't remove half of your water each week unless you are absolutely certain you need to do that. It can cause pH swings, hardness differences, can stress livestock and is typically unnecessary unless you're dosing tons of fertilizer or medication.



BBradbury said:


> Hello zz...
> 
> There's really no need to vacuum the gravel, just remove half the water in the tank once a week. The reason is, everything, especially the wastes the fish produce, dissolve in the water. So, just remove half the tank water every week and you'll guarantee pure water conditions for your fish and plants.
> 
> ...


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

The other side of the same mouth/fingers typing/opinion. (some don't like my opinion but it's always pretty much the same) 


BBradbury said:


> Hello ...
> 
> There really is a way to reduce the amount and frequency of water changes in freshwater tanks.
> 
> ...


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## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

I have only 8 small fish in the tank right now so the bio load is lite. I'm going to try ten gallon changes each week. Once I figure out what to do with the two cichlids. I hate to give them away I've had them almost two years, but they just start dig up plants so that has to stop. Might move them back to the 5g tank. 

Thanks for all the input.


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Water Changes Just Work!*

Hello TPF...

If you're new to the "waterkeeping" hobby. I can give one tip, changing out half the water in your tank weekly is the easiest way to maintain a stable water chemistry. If you never learn anything else about keeping healthy fish and plants, learn to remove and replace half the water in your fish tank every week!

Regular and large weekly water changes are better than adding a bunch of expensive filters or messing around with chemicals that have to be measured and dosed.

In my tanks that don't have special land plants in them to keep the water pure, I change out half the water weekly and the water chemistry remains stable. The simple reason is, there's no time for toxins to build up in the water before the next large change.

Your fish tank is an "unflushed toilet"! if you were living in the same water you did your business in, how often and how much water would you want removed?

This is really a "no brainer".

Just an opinion from an "old school" water keeper.

B


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

This has nothing to do with opinions, fortunately, and most certainly isn't personal. It's about experienced and verified methods for maintaing stability.

If one is changing 50% of their water, they must also take into consideration whether or not they _need_ to remove that much water or if they're putting their livestock at risk.

What if they're keeping sensitive shrimp? What if the particular fish they keep can't tolerate much of a parameter swing? You're prescribing a possible disaster.

Unless there's a need to change that much water - i.e., dosing tons of fertilizers or there's a monstrous nitrate spike - it's not necessary and is not only a waste of water but potentially problematic. 

Filters are cheap. A sponge filter costs a buck. $5 for a big one. There's nothing fancy about filtration.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

BBradbury said:


> Hello TPF...
> 
> If you're new to the "waterkeeping" hobby. I can give one tip, changing out half the water in your tank weekly is the easiest way to maintain a stable water chemistry. If you never learn anything else about keeping healthy fish and plants, learn to remove and replace half the water in your fish tank every week!
> 
> ...


I agree 100 %. It's the cheapest most effective maintenance. My fish love water changes, swim in the current created by the hose from the shower head. I put a cap and a half of prime in the flow at the beginning of the water change. It seems to help with keeping algae to a minimum also.

I dose daily EI so, its part of the method. I do have test kits but, definitely don't rely on them being accurate.


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## rrastro (Jun 14, 2012)

So, ummm, back to the OP's topic:
I don't vacuum except to clean detritus off the surface of the substrate


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## C.Barb. (Oct 10, 2012)

Also op don't underestimate the importance of carbon :thumbsup:


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## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

I need to upgrade the filter I cant change just the carbon I have change a cartridge and lose all the BB in it.


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## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

Haven't vacuumed the substrate in either planted tanks since I set them up a few years ago. I just do a 25-30% water change every few weeks to restore some minerals here and there. Everything seems real healthy. I wanted to go with the style of tank that required as little maintenance as possible so I have tons of easy plants with low light and don't dose.


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## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

Thanks


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## cradleoffilthfan (Jan 19, 2009)

Never. I just suck out water from the top of the tank and refill. I never have and it hasn't hurt anything. I think if I had gravel substrate and no live plants, I might lightly vacuum the top of the gravel. Most of the good bacteria is found in the substrate and I feel there isn't much need if your not overfeeding or overstocking your tank.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

I don't vac. my planted tanks.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

Zero and not possible in over an year. I would if I can even see my substrates. Oh yeah, 3 40% WC per week. Beat that. I have over 70+ tetra fish in my 40g. None of them died as the result of WC. All water from the WC is stored and pretreated at least 24 hours before being pumped into the tank. At times, my crypts do not like WC that much. That's about it.


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

I will "wand" the area above the substrate to kick up loose material and vac that up, but I never dip the tube into the substrate for my planted tanks.


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## pejerrey (Dec 5, 2011)

Never!


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## Miira (Feb 15, 2011)

I previously had large light colored gravel in my tank and vacuumed all the way to the bottom(around plants, of course) during my weekly water changes. It didn't seem to hurt anything. This time around, I'm using dirt and a black gravel cap, so I don't have to mess with it again.


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