FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I have some questions about gravel vacuuming I hope you all can help me with. How often do I need to do this, I have heard everything from once a week to once a month? When I do vacuum, the directions on the back of the vacuum say to unplug heater and filter, is this necessary, and if I do unplug it will it harm my fish? Thanks for all the help! If you all get tired of all my questions just tell me to shut up

Justin

Colts Fan For Life
30g platy tank: 2 sunburst wag platys, 2 redtailed white calico platys, 2 red wag platys, 1 fry(not sure who it belongs to), 1 Golden CAE.
Bettas:1 VT male

you need to unplug them, as you are removing water and the filter may run dry and burn out. The heater will get hot if your waster level is too low.

I use my python every week. About a 50-75 % water change.

I do a gravel vac with every water change, which comes weekly. Dividing the tank into 4 parts and cycling which one you vacuum lets the beneficial bacteria continue to thrive. Unplugging the heater is a must because changes in temperature can make it crack. I leave the heaters unplugged for around 15 minutes after to get the temperatures the same. The filter probably depends on whether or not you take the water below the inlet tube and I plug them back in after the tank is filled back up. Unplugging these for the extent of the gravel vac will not harm the fish, just make sure the temp of the water you add back is relatively close to the tank water.

What does that mean, Bob? "Till the cows come home." Where have the cows been?

I do a deep vacume on the 5ft tank weekly. I only turn off the heaters reason I have a Eheim canister and the inlet is very close to the bottom of the tank.

The Betta tank is also done weekly but because of the plants the vacume tube is waved over the plants.
The heater is turned off and the filter is removed for cleaning.

Shut up is the only way you will NEVER learn as far as I am concerned no question is a silly question we all had to learn once. I only wish computers and the WWW were around when I first started being "interested" in Aquariums very close to 65 years ago

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I own a 2ft coldwater tank, with about an inch and a bit of gravel at the bottom. I've never had any problem's with the gravel befor(Their is a gravel plate under it that was used for the air hose, but I use a diffrent air hose thingy now so the gravel just sit's on top of it), and my fish have alway's been fine. is vacuming a neccery for good tank mantance? I was wondering as some book's I've read have said not to bother wylst other's have screamed at it's importance! I do have an aglie eater, he spend's most of his time at the bottom of the tank quite happyly, and the gravel's not turned a wierd green colour or anything.

I just wont to know if I should get a gravel vacum or not, is it worth bothering about!

Water Pixie.
xxx

If it bite's you' BITE IT BACK!

I am curious pixie, and new to fishkeeping... what do you have in your cold water tank, what's the temp, parameters, etc?

Thanks, I am always looking to learn more!

I'm not to good with number's (Im dyslexic) I've no idear about Temp and stuff (My locel pet shop owner is used to me and my stupidness, in fact he joke's with about it but he know's me and my tank, and alway's know's what's best), it's something I'm finding out about just now.

BUT my tank looks like this.


I have Henrey, he's an algi eater (he's the only one who will stay still for his photo lol)
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e154/Full2Me/DSCF5127.jpg

And here's the tank set up it's self. (their are 3 mino's I think their called and one goldfish, the other goldfish belong to next door naouber's son, or will do later on today when I take it over)
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e154/Full2Me/DSCF5175.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e154/Full2Me/DSCF5161.jpg


Full tank shoot, includeing Pixie! lol
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e154/Full2Me/DSCF5178.jpg

Not the best pictures in the world I'll grant you but the batterys are running low on my camra and the fish are a bit active at the moment lol
Hope that help's a bit, sorry I can't tell you any more.

Water Pixie!
xxx

If it bite's you' BITE IT BACK!

Colts Fan

I use a vaccum each week and i clean 1 4th of the tank each week with the vaccum and i clean one of my filters every two weeks in tank water. Vaccums are great tools. However If you have a heavily planted tank that is well established then it is known to not need a gravel vac. (This is the only circumstance that i know of)

Water Pixie
Ok well i got some good news and some bad news for ya. There are reasons for both vaccuming and not vaccuming a tank and they are very different.

First of all you algae eater is a Chinese Algae Eater. They are not the best and when they are adults they become very agressive and will eat the slime coat off other fish opening them up to infection and even death. Sorry to say that.

The other fish you have are red cherry barbs. And you do have a goldfish in there. Now you are mixing two totally different kinds of fish in your tank. The goldfish is a coldwater fish and produces lots of waste and for the size of your tank truly should not be in there. The rest of your fish are tropical fish and need a heater of somesort.

So its up to you what you want to do with those fish but I would look into removing the goldfish and the CAE and replacing them with more cherry barbs as they are a schooling fish and a Siamese Algae eater or some Otto's.

As far as vacuming is concerned, your tank with all the decorations, you will vaccum around the decor normally. However if you have the UnderGravel Filter working, that filter will usually pull all the debris and waste down under the filter plate for the bacteria to break down in to less harmfull waste.

If you do not have this plate working I would remove it and use the gravel vac. I would split the tank into 4 sections and clean it as you change the water each week ( I would do 20% water change). Make sure you clean your internal filter which i think you have once a month and do it in some tankl water you have pulled out so you do not kill the bacteria in the filter.

I hope this helps you out a bit. Also i would suggest getting a thermometer so you can see the temp of the water in the tank.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Ok, well I can remove the goldfish easy enoff. and I can stick a heater into this coldwater tank to better suit the cherrys (will that be all I need to do, these Cherrys have been liveing like this for a year now) but the CAE, what do I do with him, stick him in a water tank with a heater on his own?

I'll look into getting a gravel vacum. I had no idear I had a CAE, I got him from a diffrent pet shop, along with the cherrys. I got told they were both coldwater fish, and would ok in my tank! that'll teach me for bying from a strange pet shop, grrrr!!!!

I guess I'm learnign the hard way now huh!
thanks for lettin me know BTW
Water Pixie!
xxx

If it bite's you' BITE IT BACK!

Those aren't cherry barbs, they're white cloud mountain minnows. They are coldwater fish, but they do also like to school.

><>

that's right I just googeled them, and it turned out to be white cloud mountain minnows, but what about the CAE, is he a cold water model or a hot water model?

Thanxs peep's.

Water Pixie!
xxx

If it bite's you' BITE IT BACK!

Here's the profile for the chinese algae eater


Do not believe anyone that tells you they wont suck slime coat. I had one go after all my fish, he was taken back straight away. He'd been sold as a golden algae eater and was an early purchase. After a few days I checked the above profile and decided that I indeed had bought the golden color morph of the chinese algae eater.

^_^

they can tolerate coldwater but they are tropcial, but yea they arent for you. They will grow to about 1 foot and even young fishes will attack other fishes for their slime coat. Best avoid at all.

like stated, that goldfish doesnt belong in a 10 gallon and like you probably will do, it would be best to move it into a larger tank asap.

i would increase the number of white clouds, they would look good in a school, if you return the cAE you might be able to get credit for the white clouds too.

well then I have a problem. I got the fish a year ago and haven't had any trubble with him..YET! but I can't take him back to the shop, it was too long ago now. It looks like he's a hot water fish so to speek, so it's going to have to be a tropical tank for him, I really wonted to wait untill yule to set one of these up and going, but it looks like I'm going to have to do that sooner than I thought. and I wont be able to put in any other fish cos this lil bugger will just kill'em, typical me, I end up with all the mental animal's *sigh*

I surpose it's my own fault really, I should have looekd into this alot sooner, but at the time I didn't know much and just thought, hay an aglie eater, that would be good for the tank, better get him. should have just kept to my local LFS, he alway's tell's me what I can and can't have in the tank, he's going to flip when I tell him about Henry!!!!

If he's an aggressive fish then I dont really know what I'm going to do with him, I dont wont to keep aggressive fish as they just arn't my style, so what can I do with him!!!! I wont turn him out that's for sure, that's just not how I do thing's, oh dame, gunner have to ask around my local area and see if anyone wont's him or ring up the pet shop and see if they will let me return him, I'll even say I dont wont a refund. untill I can find him another home I'll set up a seprate tank just for him, it's only fair.

Water Pixie!
xxx

If it bite's you' BITE IT BACK!

Having never done a gravel vac or cleaned under the ugf plate(yes those things need cleaned even when working) I wonder what are your nitrate readings? The problem with not doing any gravel vacs or removing the junk that settles at the bottom of the tank is eventually you will end up with old tank syndrome. The amount of waste breaking down causes extreme nitrates and the process gives off acids that may drop the ph to deadly levels. After awhile the bacteria can't keep up converting all the waste and ammonia spikes start to show up.

The goldfish is also a very high waste producer and will cause high nitrates all by itself so without gravel vacs your tank has got to have insane nitrate levels. That is probably stunting your fish and will eventually, probably very very soon, lead to illnesses and death. I suggest purchasing a nitrate test kit and trying to get a reading so you know what your dealing with.

just wont to add to that, I did a complet tank change on the weekend, where I scrubbed the tank out, power blasted the gravel and scrubbed the tank to within an inch of it's life, so I shouldn't think the PH or Nitrate level' are off the wall right now, I'll buy a gravel vac today thow as it seem's to be the best way to keep it clean.
Water Pixie!
xxx

If it bite's you' BITE IT BACK!

That was my bad about the cherries, that was a hard picture to see the detail.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

No... now your ammonia and nitrites are gonna be extremely high. If you completely scrub down a tank you kill all the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate and your tank is no longer cycled. That means you have to spend a month going through the ammonia and nitrite phase before your fish are safe again. Unless you saved some of the filter media or didn't rinse the gravel in chlorinated tapwater or treat it with anything. Then you'll only see a mini cycle and get ammonia and nitrites for about a week. Better get an ammonia test kit to go with the nitrate one now so you can do water changes before the ammonia gets high enough to kill the fish.

Ok, well the gravel was blasted with the old tank water, it's just stupid to wash it with tap water. My fish are fine.

I didn't change the filter media, and as I said, gravel was washed in old tank water! I dont mind doing the water change, and it's never harmed my fish befor. My leavel's have alway's been fine, as I get my local LFS to test any water sample's I send.
Fish are alive and healthy, just like they have alway's been.

Water Pixie!
xxx

If it bite's you' BITE IT BACK!