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This is probably a REALLY dumb question...but anyway.
My tank has an UGF linked to an Aquaclear 50, and there is loads of gunk in he gravel. I was wandering about Gravel Vacs. How much are they? How do you do them? How often do you do them? I have a very large lump of Bogwood, will that affect them? Thanks in advance

Gravel vacs are really very cheap, and even the cheapest model ever is effective. It's just a siphon tube with a wide mouth to prevent the gravel from getting sucked all the way up.
Even with a UGF, Weekly or bi-weekly gravel vacs woul dbe beneficial, and you can easily do them as part of your water change routine. You can vac around bogwood, or lift the piece of wood up to get underneath once in a while.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

- theyre very cheap. Useally under 10$ U.S.

- You useally vacume your gravel when ever you do a water change(every 1-2 weeks)

- and the bogwood wont affect water vacs. Just simply move the bog wood and vac under it (the wood)

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pnh

Since it will be your first time doing a gravel vac , there might be a lot of ammonia spike producing material in the gravel, so rather than stir the tank gravel up before you vacuum as some people do ( it might cause a lethal spike) , try not to disturb the gravel too much as you hoover it, push the vacuum right to the glass bottom ,and make sure as much dirt goes directly up the vacuum and out of the tank as possible. Be thorough with the parts you do vacuum, and maybe do the whole floor over two water changes rather than one.

After this initial buildup of detritus has gone, you can pretty much do as you wish in safety.

ok, thankyou, i will try to get one soon.