Cleaning substrate

[seangee]

Front of tank. Some are upright the idea is that it looks like it's just been chucked in. had to make sure it's all stable but it's a maze of caves and holes inside.

May extend it once LFS has replenished its stock but for now I like it.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I was thinking about this some more...
In tanks that are not planted with an inch or so of gravel (or sand), a routine full gravel vac of the substrate is a good idea. Also is the case if anyone has a throw back under gravel filter as these can quickly become 'nitrate factories' and a build up of 'schmutz' can inhibit the flow of water through the gravel.

However, for planted tanks with 2-4" of substrate and rooted plants, it's best to leave the substrate alone and let nature take it's course. Now under some circumstances, one might temporarily remove decor to remove any detritus, but this may or may not be really necessary.

Like Algae, many find that mulm on the substrate is offensive in a display tank. In fact, algae and mulm (and snails for that matter!) are very healthy things in the aquarium. Algae helps to purify the water. Mulm feeds the substrate food web. Sometimes we just need to think more like nature. That doesn't mean we should neglect tank/filter maintenance, but rather not obsess over otherwise natural processes.

 

[seangee]

I was thinking about this some more...
In tanks that are not planted with an inch or so of gravel (or sand), a routine full gravel vac of the substrate is a good idea. Also is the case if anyone has a throw back under gravel filter as these can quickly become 'nitrate factories' and a build up of 'schmutz' can inhibit the flow of water through the gravel.

However, for planted tanks with 2-4" of substrate and rooted plants, it's best to leave the substrate alone and let nature take it's course. Now under some circumstances, one might temporarily remove decor to remove any detritus, but this may or may not be really necessary.

Like Algae, many find that mulm on the substrate is offensive in a display tank. In fact, algae and mulm (and snails for that matter!) are very healthy things in the aquarium. Algae helps to purify the water. Mulm feeds the substrate food web. Sometimes we just need to think more like nature. That doesn't mean we should neglect tank/filter maintenance, but rather not obsess over otherwise natural processes.

Heh heh. Mine's not planted - just a few rhizomes on wood and loads of greenery in the hood. Current sand has been in for around 18 months and all the biological agents seem to be in place though. Following the advice I have stopped doing anything to the substrate and TBH I can't tell the difference. Always looks perfect in the morning - last thing I do before lights out is feed pellets or wafers for the nocturnal bottom feeders.

Usual water change today. Lifted one of the coconut caves expecting to see an accumulation in there - but no, all clean. Nitrates got up to 10 ppm between water changes which is slighlty higher than usual but nothing to worry about. I suspect my MTS population will expand but I rarely see them, really don't mind them and the sids rather enjoy the small ones

 

[seangee]

10 weeks later I took the wall apart to see what's under there. Well there was rather an accumulation of organic matter so I vacuumed it up. In fairness there has been no detrimental effect on nitrate levels (or ammonia or nitrite).

The sids had a field day when they spotted how much live food I had uncovered in the process (baby MTS)

 

[NickAu]

That doesn't mean we should neglect tank/filter maintenance,

People with canister filter should also clean the hoses now n then. I clean my canisters once a week and my hoses every few months using one of these. BingQing Flexible155cm Double Ended Water Filter Pump Pipe ...

I never vacuum my substrate maybe thats why my plants do well ( I recently pulled up a Crypt that had 50cm roots ), why throw out fertilizer only to buy and add fertilizer.

I also think snails MTS Rams and even Mystery snails are vital in a planted tank.

 

[seangee]

I never vacuum my substrate maybe thats why my plants do well

The reason I wanted to check on this area is because 15-20% of my substrate is covered by a pile of wood with no plants in that area. Flow is fairly good but I suspect that any muck that goes into the wooden reef is filtered by it and falls to the bottom. Anything trapped in this way has to rely on snails or bacteria to be dealt with. I have no problem with the snails BTW and wouldn't be without them.

I clean my canisters once a week

Just proves we all do things differently and there is no one "right way" (as long as we recognise the importance of fresh clean water). In this tank I clean the cannisters every 2 months. I have 2 and do one at the end of every month on rotation.

 

[NickAu]

The reason I wanted to check on this area is because 15-20% of my substrate is covered by a pile of wood

I have about that much uncovered in my tanks.