Can't vacuum the gravel

Hi, my tank has a lot of waste in the substrate because of my pleco mostly I think, and the problem is that I can't vacuum the gravel because I have a lot of plants and there are roots everywhere, I mean, I can somehow vacuum it, but it's really hard, I always move the plants and that thing just triggers my ocd, i don't wanna mess with the plants at all. As for the water parameters everything is fine, no ammonia and nitrite, just some nitrate but at low levels and the water is crystal clear. I just don't like to see fish poop everywhere and I am worried that this will cause problem to my fishes's health eventually, can I do something about it?

As for my previous thread, I removed the tiger barbs successfully and things got really better, although I think I scared the soul out of my other fishes because I had a really hard time trying to catch them, but they seem to recover as the days pass so that's okay

Nearos Samourai said:

I just don't like to see fish poop everywhere and I am worried that this will cause problem to my fishes's health eventually, can I do something about it?

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You definitely do need to remove all of the poop you can. Eventually yes, it will become harmful to your fish.

Why can’t you at least clean out the main open area? Will you please post a picture of your tank?

All of my tanks are very heavily planted. I vacuum my sand in the main area.

I suggest only using the tube section of your vacuum. (The smaller part. That way you can get into smaller areas)

Actually, mulm is not as evil as some would have you believe as once nitrogenous waste has decomposed, the remnants, although unsightly, no longer pollute the water...and assuming you do sufficient volume/frequency of partial water changes, the water quality remains good.
Having 'said' that, why not use your gravel vac or just the siphon hose to hover over the detritus/mulm to remove it?

As @AbbeysDad indicated use the siphon hose itself, I have done this in my planted tanks to get to areas with lots of plants and it works well. Give it a try and let us know if it works out for you. Good luck.

Retired Viking said:

As @AbbeysDad indicated use the siphon hose itself

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AbbeysDad said:

Having 'said' that, why not use your gravel vac or just the siphon hose to hover over the detritus/mulm to remove it?

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That is exactly what I said.

@TheTenthDoctor, this is what I was talking about...

Here you go I can vacuum some spaces but I am afraid to push the vacuum and do a deep cleaning because of the roots.

I can see why you are scared to vacuum.

I would just try it and see what happens. You never know until you try! Just be gentle.

You don't need to gravel vac. The plants will eat up all that lovely waste! If your OCD cannot handle it though all you can do is vac, put a stocking over the end to make sure you don't suck up all the stones.

If it eventually cause problems I guess i will just go buy a smaller gravel vacuum so that I can clean the narrow spots as well. I tried gravel vacuum the best I could but I still can't reach some places. Guess I will just let the plants take care of the rest, which is obviously near the plant roots and because of that I can't clean them.

Most of the plants look like Java fern and anubias, except for the plant at the far left. If that's what they are, Java fern and anubias should not be planted in the substrate of their rhizomes will rot. They should be attached to decor so that the rhizomes are above the substrate. This would also solve the problem of cleaning the substrate as you just move the decor, with plants attached, to one side.

Oh, I didn't knew that, that's a pretty good idea, I will try this. Thanks a lot

Your anubis are all well settled in now with what looks like a big root network and the rhizome is above the substrate...just. the plants at the back are amazon sword which are heavy root feeders and look like theyre doing well. I wouldn't disturb it.