horsensnowrider

Last night I enjoyed checking out member aquariums.
Wow! there are some fantastic setups.

I use to have a couple of potted swords in my 20g til Mr. Giant Pleco got big enough to destroy them. But with the 90g I'm working on setting up, I hope that won't be as big of an issue.

However, many of the tanks I like the looks of best are quite heavily planted. So how do you adequately vacuum the gravel w/o disturbing the plants too much?

I've been considering just keeping the plants in pots for that reason, however, I want my tank to look as natural as possible, so planting in the substrate would accomplish that best. Thoughts?

Another question: I spoke to a local guy that runs a speciality aquarium/terrarium shop, asking about gravel vs sand. He said that sand is a lot harder to keep clean as vacuuming tends to disturb it too much, making the water couldy til it settles and due to the lighter weight too much of it tends to go up the siphon, often losing some through the siphon. More thoughts?

I'm considering a combination of sand and gravel. After all many creek beds are just that...pebble bottoms with sand/silt filling in aroung the rocks. Has anyone done this? and if so, what ratio of sand:gravel do you recommend?

Thanks

horsensnowrider

Oh, btw
if it makes any difference my filtration is going to be a canister, Penn Plax Cascase 1200 model rated at 315 gpm.

joy613

One large problem with sand gravel mix I have found is aerobic pockets. Stirring the sand and gravel helps but if you have rooted plants it is hard to do, one option is MTS (Malaysian trumpet snails. I have seen several aquariums that use the sand as a road type feature that is very nice. One mistake I made was to think sand would stay on the top of the gravel but with time it sift downs to the bottom. I use HOB filters so I can't help you with that. When I clean my tank I suck up some mulm but not all of it. Hope this helps some.

MrWaxhead

Hey horseno, I know this is going to sound odd, but for my tanks I don't vac my substate. If your tank is planted enough, the plants will basically eat up any waste that settles to the bottom. I just keep a good mix of cleaner fish, shrimp, corries ottos and SAE etc and let the fish help feed the plants and the plants help clean the water and supply 02 for the fish. I do a weekly water change of about 5 to 20% of the tanks water depending on the tank. Add ferts and leave things be as much as possible.

And as far as mixing gravels etc, joy is right, the sand will eventually drop down through the gravel, but if you play with amounts, ie add some more as it settles you will eventually be able to get the natural mix your looking for. I have mixed substrate in all my tanks to provide natural zones for all my different fish.

About the only time I vacuum my substrate is right after a massive change in planting, ie adding or moving stuff around in my tank. As you upset the mulm etc and risk a ammonia spike which will normally lead to a algae spike. And once your plants are rooted down nicely there is next to no risk that a vac will tear them out, you really have to give em a good pull to remove a healthy rooted plant (which i try not to do, if I have to move a plant, i try to dig away the soil as to disrupt the roots as minimal as possible as many plants like crypts will melt if you disrupt them). And for vacuuming sand, just down push the vac to the sand, hold it about a inch or so above and it will typically pic up the waste and not the sand.

horsensnowrider

Thanks for the advice, both Joy & Fish Addict.

Think I'll try the mix. It actually makes sense to not vac the substrate if the plants can use up the fish waste. I have a big horse manure fed compost pile and my bedding and landscape plants love the "food".

Mr Waxhead, I read the entire thread about your 55 planted tank. You've certainly done the reasarch and real world analysis and it shows in the beauty and health of your tank. Without strong lights to support verdant plant growth I suppose I'll have to still vac, but not as much as I thought. Will have to wait and see.