How do I vacum my gravel

[Hoplesswfish]

I have an 8 gallon hex tank and I have 4 dwarf puffers in it I also have ghost shrimp in there now. I had no problem vacuming it before the ghost shrimp but now Im afraid I am going to suck them up. Not only that I want to get a plant but its roots grow in the gravel how do I stop up rooting my plant? The more I get in to this hobby the more confused I get.

 

[gadazobe]

First, what size gravel cleaner are you using? For a small tank you only need a small cleaner. I wouldn't worry about sucking up the shrimps - most probably at the first sign of cleaning they'll scurry away. "Vacuum" gently around the plant, not deeply and not on the plant itself and it should be ok. Are you doing deep gravel cleans every time you clean?

 

[impur]

If you gently shake the vacuum side to side as you push down, you can effectively tell where the roots are and it will help to loosen any stuff between the rocks. Just takes some practice, you'll get it!!!

 

[Hoplesswfish]

NO I dont always do deep gravel cleanings but I do some times maybe every 2 months because I feed live blood worms alot and sometimes they go under the gravel and I don't what them just to sit and rot but I never go all the way to the bottom of the tank. Why do you have a different method? maybe it will work better

 

[sunflower]

I always worry about sucking up my fish. Usually I put my net over the end of the cleaner