gravel cleaner

[fish+peace]

how often should the gravel in tank be cleaned with one of the syphon cleaners i think i have over-done mine (once a week) and that is why water has gone cloudy and had a bacterial bloom. ive put a carbon sponge filter in and am changing some water each day, any ideas what else i should do, also i may be moving in a week what will be best to do then ?

 

[cutecotton]

in my 10G betta tank (i recently just turned off the filter, the betta seems to like it better off) i syphon everytime i do water changes ( about twice a week), this way i can take out all the poop nad stuff.

I also do this for my 25G...i dont' think there's such a thing as "over doing it" becuase if i dont' syphon my gravel it gets SO DIRTY, you would not believe some of the stuff i suck up

 

[Jen]

I'm on the opposite end as you. In the past I would only syphon it once a month. The water quality was always perfect so i didnt see the point. I would do a water change 2ce a month.

How much water were you taking out every cleaning?

 

[fish+peace]

i was prob takin out about 40-50 % cause by the time id got all the real muck off the water was 1/2 empty

 

[StanTheBetta]

I use the "gravel vac" once a week when I do 20% water changes on my 10. My water looks great but then again my 2 filters turn all the water in the tank over 22.5 times an hour As long as you're not cleaning the gravel heavily multiple times a week I don't think you're overdoing it.

 

[susangc]

I do a 50% water change every week, which is perfect for my teeny tank (see sig). I, too, wind up removing the 50% just by siphoning the glup from the bottom. I've never had a problem caused by too much cleaning.

Susan

 

[Inchworm]

Keeping your ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte levels in balance is only part of the reason for frequent vacuuming and water changes. In fact, this is mostly kept in line by the beneficial bacteria you have cultivated.

The other reason is to keep the bacteria levels down. In addition to all the good bacteria, there is other bacteria living and reproducing in your tank. The Columnaris Flexibacter and Aeromonas bacterias which cause bacterial infections and finrot are a few of them.

While there will always be some of them in the water, frequent cleaning and water changes insure that they are at a minimum. If your fish become stressed from something beyond your control, they would be so much more at risk of disease in a dirty tank than in a clean one.

I change about 50% of the water weekly in many of my tanks, and my fry tanks get even more than that.

 

[rvm]

Fish+peace, what type of filter do you have? If you have a UGF, then that may be the problem

 

[fish+peace]

i have a fluval 2 filter on side of tank all was well and the water was v.clear its just reacently think it may be too much food ive been told to use a carbon sponge which im doing the water has cleared up slightly but its still very murky ive been changing so much every day , do you think i need anything which clumps together large particles ?

 

[rvm]

I sometimes use accu-clear. But it's not solving the actual problem. I only use it every now and then.

 

[bittersweet]

hmm I see you all do weekly water changes in your 10 gallons..is it bad that I only do 50 % water changes in my 10 gallon once a month? Ive had the tank and fish for well over 5 months and they all seem to be doing fine.