About vacuuming the gravel?

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Lets not forget that this tank in question is a five gallon tank. So yes, I think gravel vac-ing is even more important when it's a very small tank, and water pollution is always on a knife edge.

I don't believe that gravel vac-ing removes a great deal of beneficial bacteria. Since they form a pretty tough protective membrane around themselves, and survive in fast flowing rivers and cope with the flow of water going pretty fast through the filter and we don't worry about them being washed away, the idea that the tiny suction from a little syphon is removing them all makes me laugh a little. They're a little tougher than that.

 

[Fishiemang]

Nobody said removing them all....

Disrupting the cycle, yes. The only way you remove them all is die-off from chemicals or what have you, or removal of the substrate. But you can, and will, disrupt the cycle of the tank. Like I said, if you do it like clockwork, and keep it clean, the worry here is minimal. It's when you do it monthly, maybe every 2 months ect, this is when you will run into issues. Unless you are very careful, you are going to release sediments into the water column. In these sediments are all the nasty stuff that kills fish. Will it kill them? Dunno. I have killed more with this than I care to admit. Is why I started on my trail of eco building. Finding that "better way". Especially in a small 5 gallon, this is a small volume of water that, unless done frequently, will have too much released into it at once. Some hardy fish look at this as meal time. Others die real fast. You'll know if it was a mistake within 5 minutes. If all goes well, you'll be cleaning your filter next.

 

[Fishmanic]

tank 1: .... 35 gallon tall hex tank with gravel..well planted ,, driftwood, stocking includes skirt tetras, dwarf gourami and a pleco
feeding flakes, frozen shrimp, algae wafers
I deep gravel vac thoroughly every 10 days and lots of stuff comes up such as leftover food, rotten plant matter, driftwood debris

Tank 2: .... 29 gallon well planted sand substrate tank with driftwood ...stocking include tiger barbs and a large BN pleco.
feeding flakes, frozen shrimp, algae wafers
I run python over the top of the sand and slightly stir up the sand...small amount of debris comes up.

Tank 3: .... 5 gallon Betta tank...gravel substrate...lots of anubias plants...I do 50% water changes every 10 days using empty Orange juice containers. I find it easier than dragging out the python WC. I feed Northfin pellets and Betta eats them all. I only do a gravel vac about every 8 or 10 water changes. Not much debris comes up.