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I was just wondering more for my sake, but when i clean my tank, i find it hard to clean out without first removing all the large plants and then doing a gravel-vac. Is there an easier way of cleaning the tank without having to replant my entire thing every two weeks?

*Chelle*
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I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

I don't vac the parts with alot of plants. I kind of wave my hand over them to stir up the nasties, then I just take them out with the water. I've never had a problem with high nitrates with this...I think its how most people with heavily planted tanks do it.

*Kristin*

Hi,
What you are describing is a major overhaul of a tank.
If, for some reason, you have to remove all the plants and
vacuum the gravel, then simply drain some of the tank water
into a bucket and put the plants in that water.

You should rarely, like only after years of having the
tank set up with the plants, ever have to do that to a
tank.

In a lightly, to normally, planted tank you should mentally
divide the unplanted portions into four sections.
Then each time you do your regular tank maintenance (water
change) you should vacuum a different, unplanted, section.
By dividing the tank into four sections, and doing your
maintenance once a week, each month you will have cleaned
the entire, unplanted part of the tank. Leaving time
between sections allows the cleaned section time to
"recover" as you can weaken the bacterial colonies in the
cleaned sections.

Waiving your hand over the planted sections in a swirling
motion will bring most of the detritus up into the water
column where you can siphon it off with the tank water.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I have done what Frank has recommended that is if it is a full tank rebuild I just place the plants in some of the water I have taken out of the tank. I also add a heater and certainly a good airstone. I have also done a part of the tank no problems at all.
At the moment all of my plants in the 5ft are fixed to rocks and DW this makes it a lot easer but I still have to remove some of these to do a good gravel vac at the back of the tank.

With the Betta tank there is no space to do a gravel vac unless I remove 3 Anubias (on rocks) Therefore I wave the small gravel vac over the plants.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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ahhhhh... you all have it all figured out... man.. this whole time, ive been just moving the big plants because they get knocked out when i gravel vac.. so in essence.. i shouldnt take any of them out? man.. my life just got so much easier.

*Chelle*
_______________________________________________
I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

In my case, the only plants in the Panda Fun Palace that are firmly rooted in the substrate are my Amazon Swords. They are left there and I vac around them.

All the other features - the bogwood decorations with the forests of Java Moss and Java Ferns attached - are handily removable for the duration. Which means I can give the gravel a thorough vac. This is one reason I'm a fan of intricate bogwood - attach Java Ferns and Java Moss to a collection of intricate bogwood pieces, and you have easy-care removable underwater rainforests that are perfect playgrounds for all kinds of fishes.

As for my Bacopa, that generally gets dug up by my Pandas, so part of the gravel vac procedure for that section of the aquarium involves using it to find the weights to reattach to the Bacopa to see if it'll stay planted more than 24 hours before the Pandas use it as a climbing frame again


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002