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Alrighty! I've got the plants planted. Some of them have even their roots spread about. How in tarnation do you vacuum the gravel without uprooting half the tank?!?! I don't want to have to worry about gas pockets building beneath the gravel and poisoning the fish. Somebody please give me pointers and tips.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Hi,
Ah... Now comes the "tricky" part. First, the easy - divide
the non planted parts into four sections and with each
water change vacuum a different section.

To make it easier to keep the planted sections aerated,
get some MTS snails. They burrow through the gravel
munching away on food and in the process keep the gravel
loose and aerated. That will eliminate the anaerobic
areas.

As far as vacuuming the actual planted sections, you can't.
Instead, waive your hand over the planted areas to raise
the detritus up from the gravel's surface and into the
water column where it can be removed by the aquarium
filter and the siphon.

Planted tanks are not static pictures. Rather, they are
dynamic living things. As the plants grow, mature, and
are trimmed, you will eventually wind up with sections,
especially with fast growing plants, where the bases
become dark green and woody. In those places you up root
the old bases, vacuum that area, and then plant the top
shoots from the fast growers. When the baby plants make
the parents look old, again dark green and dull, then
uproot them vacuum the old area, and plant the new babies
in the "old" section replacing the aged parents.

Hope this helps...
Frank


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

My Cardinal & Shrimp tank is very close to 100% planted as soon as I can get more crypts it will be fully planted. Now I deep vac all the front weekly and the remainder of the crypts I just wave my fingers and small Vac over the plants.
During the week I wave my fingers over the crypts and this helps to keep the substrate clean it is suched up by the filter. Where the Anubias is in the back left hand corner I will deep vac that one of these days. I do not want to disturb that area as it is the home of the shrimps.
Cardinal & Shrimp tank

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith



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