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So whats the secret to good vacuuming?

I've had a 10gal tank setup for a little over a month now, the fish are doing fine (3 peppered corys, 2 male guppies, 5 neon tetras). Been vacuuming once a week, taking out about half the water out. Things look nice and clean, but when I add new water in, TONS of junk comes up off my gravel.

I typically cover all of the tank bottom, using slow sweeps back and forth and forth and back. I do get lots of nasty stuff in my discard bucket, so I'm definately picking stuff up, but adding the new water in really stirs up the junk.

Should I start by draining a gallon or so of water, adding in a gallon to get it all stirred up, then start vacuuming and chasing the big bits down?

Suggestions appreciated.

do u do deep gravel siphoning....and see all the gank being siphoned?? if u do..then ur doing ok...but if not...u have to go deep...stir the gravels and when u add water...u ma y use ur hand to break the water falling.

You must pour the water in your tank slowly to avoid the junk coming out of the gravel. You can also do 25% water changes every 4 days, instead 50% every week.


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The trick you're missing here is that when you vacuume you are supposed to go all the way to the bottom, being careful around any plant roots you may have in the tank. Hold the siphion in place till all the gunk is up from that spot, then move on to the next. Generally you'll only be able to do a quarter of the tank this way @a time before you've removed 20% of the water, but that's okay! You'll be able to do another quarter of the tank the next week .
As for the stocking, you're bordering on overstocked. The pepper corys are active fish and I'd personally not even be happy with them in a 20 gallon tank....which gives you a perfect reason to start thinking about getting a 55 gallon .

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I typically keep the business end of the vacuum hose half and inch or so above the gravel. I used Home Depot river pebbles for my gravel,and it isn't too deep.

I guess I need to stir it up more with the vacuum while I'm doing it.

Babelfish - the 10gal is for me to get back in the habit of maintaining a tank and taking care of fish. Also gives my kids something cool to look at. In the next 6 or so months I'll be buying/buildign something around 150 gallons to do a north american native tank (blue gills, warmouth, etc).

The corys are active and very happy looking, especially when I drop a few live mosquito larvae in there for them

I typically keep the business end of the vacuum hose half and inch or so above the gravel.

Again you need to go all the way to the bottom. You're not there till the you reach the glass .
As for bluegills hmmmm...150 seems small to me, unless you're only planning on keeping them for a year or two then arrainging for a release. Keep in mind you wouldn't be able to do this if you ever use medications in the tank. Amazing fish though.

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id10t
When I get my 10G fully established it will be impossible to get to the bottom of tank all I intend to do is wave my fingers through the plants and pick up any muck that way.

To stop the stiring up add the water very slowly and if possible directly on to DW of a rock.

Keith

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I have another question about vacuuming please?

Following on from Keith's comment: What do you do about rocks and plants? I have a number of rocks and swim throughs for the fish. Great place for them to chill out and do their toilet business! It's almost impossible to vacuum in-between the rocks - should I move them out every now and again for a good clean? What about in-between plants - that must be a great place for waste to collect. Do you just leave it there indefinitely?

Unless your tank is heavily planted you should clean as much of the gravel as you can.
Wiggle the gravel vac all the way down to the glass placing it between rocks and decorations. Wait till the water running up it goes clear then pull it up and wiggle it down somewhere else. When you get the tank 25% empty refill it and wait at least a few days then do it again. Usually you should only have to do that once every week or 2 but it depends on how stocked your tank is. Every so often it's good to lift up decorations or you can get anearobic pockets under them. I had a chunk of driftwood I didn't move for months and it got quite disgusting under there even with shoving the vac at an angle part way under it. The driftwood also had white spots where it was shoved into the gravel some. In areas with alot of plants or where you can't fit the gravel vac swirl your hand over it and use your fingers to stir up some of the gravel.
To refill pour the water onto a flat rock or set a bowl in the tank and pour over that. I pour it in using a 2 cup measuring cup, or a 1 gallon bucket for the big tank, until I've replaced half of what I removed then slowly pour it out of the bucket straight into the tank.

The trick you're missing here is that when you vacuume you are supposed to go all the way to the bottom, being careful around any plant roots you may have in the tank.

I suppose I should have said except for in the case of a planted tank in which case the plant roots can and often will be damaged by agressive gravel vacs. Additionally plants will consume the waste that drifts down in the substrate. If it's heavily planted you'll have little need for much for going into the gravel. With moderatly or lightly planted tanks I'd suggest still working your way slowly into the substrate to get excess waste out.

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Thank you so much. That info is a great help.

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Purge that substrate! Purge. Just watch out for roots.

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