Vacuuming!

[lilhurleybunny]

I recently got one of those air pump powered vacuums and it works great! The only problem is that everytime I want to vac I have to take out all the ornaments to vacuum. It discourages me from vacuuming and I know it isnt that healthy for the tank if I'm always taking out the ornaments!

So just a couple of questions .

- I always see your guy's tanks with all these pretty ornaments and stuff! How do you guys get around that when you vacuum? Do you take everything out or dodge stuff doing a quick vac?

- How often do you guys recommend vacuuming?

THANKS GUYS!!

-Bunny-

 

[nightlife20]

i vacume mine every week, have u maybe tried just liting them a bit... instead of takin them out all together?



as u said it isnt healthy to not hoover under them because thats where all ur crap gets...

 

[Teelie]

When I had gravel and had to vacuum it, I just lifted the ornaments out of the way or dug underneath them with the siphon. I have sand now and it's nowhere near the trouble.

 

[nightlife20]

i agree teelie, i never saw so much crap commin out of the gravel, everytime i moved somthin there it was floatin around in the tank

now with sand if it floats it goes stright to filter.... well apart from havin a detour around/through plants/bogwood lmao

 

[Teelie]

I have my filter intakes partially obscured by fake plant leaves but the crap (literal and figurative) goes to the filters instead of into the substrate.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi lilhurleybunny

It's best to vacuum every time you do a water change.

That's not really as bad as it sounds. It's just a matter of getting into the habit of doing it. Then, the water you are taking out will be full of the stuff you need to clean out of the bottom, so it's not like you are doing two separate jobs.

Just lift the decorations and vacuum under them, then put them back. If you arrange your tank so that there's a little clearing you can just put the decoration there while you clean under it. You don't actually have to take it out.

It would probably be safe to just vacuum under them every other time you clean, but don't let it go for longer than that. If you put the hose right next to them, some of the dirt will be pulled out from under them and that will help a bit.

As time goes by, however, it will get easier and easier to do. And your fish will be happier and healthier for it.

 

[Sky042]

I personally don't vacum under the decorations. They don't move so there isn't really anything under them. I do bump up against them maybe nudge them a little to one side or the other to make sure I get ot all but I don't have a need for removing them.

 

[Nidge]

I vacuum every week at the same time im doing my water changes.
If you dont like moving the ornaments every time why dont you vacuum the open floor of the tank every week and every second week lift the ornaments that should be sufficient.

 

[fstgtr]

Hi ... I was wondering what you guys meant by vacuuming? I know you must be using some sort of sucking device but what is the setup?

I am currently using a gravel syphon when i do a water change but this is pretty limited (to how much water you take out).

I have tried using the fish tanks own pump with the gravel syphon attached and this worked to some extent but it just wasn't strong enough.

I have a tank with a top filter and was thinking of buying a water pump and using the gravel syphon with it, to suck all the rubbish out of the tank up to the top filter. That way all the rubbish is collected in the top filter and when I am finished I just wash it out.

Any suggestions or can you explain how you guys are doing it.

Thanks

 

[YesRushGen]

Nice thread, folks...

In the past, I've never vacuumed under my decorations. However, now that I know of the dangers involving anaerobic bacteria growing under them, I plan to.

My problem is this: One of my ornaments is a rock face with a cave. It is meant to be placed against the back of the tank. The only way I could make it do this, without having a gap in the back, was to place the ornament DIRECTLY on the bottom of the tank. In other words, on the glass itself, and then use the substrate to secure it in place. Obviously, removing this ornament to vacuum under it is difficult at best.

So, I guess I need to find a way to place it ON the substrate and still be able to get it against the back with no gap. Looks like my work is cut out for me this weekend!

Oh, and something else about vacuuming. I've heard that anything more than a 50% water change is not healthy, and stressful, for the fishies. But here's my problem: In order to vacuum the substrate completely, I end up taking out more water than I should be. Am I alone with this? (Maybe I'm not fast enough?)

regards,

Kelly

 

[jaimoe]

I agree that it is much easier with sand. I hardly vacuum at all. When I make my water changes, once or twice a week, I just make sure to pour the new water in quickly so the force of the water rushing into the tank stirs up any lingering detrius so it can be sucked up by the filter. I'll vacuum every once in a while if I see a buildup, but that doesn't happen often.

 

[vantgE]

Hi ... I was wondering what you guys meant by vacuuming? I know you must be using some sort of sucking device but what is the setup?

I am currently using a gravel syphon when i do a water change but this is pretty limited (to how much water you take out).

I have tried using the fish tanks own pump with the gravel syphon attached and this worked to some extent but it just wasn't strong enough.

I have a tank with a top filter and was thinking of buying a water pump and using the gravel syphon with it, to suck all the rubbish out of the tank up to the top filter. That way all the rubbish is collected in the top filter and when I am finished I just wash it out.

Any suggestions or can you explain how you guys are doing it.

Thanks

We buy the gravel siphons and everytime we do a watter change we stick the siphon/vacume in the gravel and it pulls out dirty water along with dirty crap, then you just add the new water into a much cleaner tank

I think it's what you were doing except, did you try hooking it up to the filters?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi ... I was wondering what you guys meant by vacuuming? I know you must be using some sort of sucking device but what is the setup?

I am currently using a gravel syphon when i do a water change but this is pretty limited (to how much water you take out).

Hi fstgtr

I vacuum all my tanks with an old gravel vac that I took the end off so that I just have a round cylinder of hard plastic attached to a flexible plastic hose.

Since the siphon process, which sucks the dirt out, is run by gravity, try lowering your bucket so that the far end of the hose is as low as possible. This will maximize the suction and speed the removal of the dirt.

Once I have the siphon started, I just plunge the cylinder into the gravel and, when I see dirt coming up, I slowly pull it up. This will cause the gravel to fall back down and separate which frees the dirt quickly. Then I insert the cylinder close to where I last had it and repeat this process until I'm finished.

Speed will usually come with practice, and if you do regular cleanings, the soil doesn't build up as much, which helps too.

 

[tmlhaus]

I usually vacuum every other week and I make a mess of the plants in the tank. They're all fake, but there are a lot of them and there is just no way to vacuum around all of them and the rocks, etc. I just make sure I put back everything the way it was so the fish aren't that stressed.

 

[Mesome]

Also there are different size gravel vacs. I see one person saying that it takes a long time...I would see if you can find a bigger vac. One person says it is too fast, maybe try a smaller vac. I have a pretty large one for my 29 and a small one for my 10 & 2 gallon betta tank.