Nags1965

Forgive me if this has already been asked and answered in other threads. I have not really had time to read a lot of older threads.

Anyway here is my question

My fish get really stressed out when we use the gravel vac to clean the gravel. I especally worry about the barbs and the bala shark as we were told they really stress and stroke out very easily. Is there any way to keep the stress level down when cleaning the gavel with the vac?

hssea

Make sure to water you are adding back is at the same temperature (more than a two degree difference can be stressful to your fish). Don't forget to add water conditioner into the bucket of water too.

susitna-flower

That is a good question, I believe it was discussed several months ago, but worth talking about again, as there are always new folks here.

My method in my smaller tanks, is to do 1/2 a tank each week. I do water changes, and start vacuuming one half very slowly. This allows the fish to go to the other end. I never completely take rocks out if I can help it, just tip them over, vacuum under then tip them back.

As for the gravel, I move the vacuum through the gravel pushing from center to the end, slowly, under the gravel, stopping if the waste is building up in the tube. This method keeps the water from getting so full of gunk that the fish freak out.

I never take out more than 1/2 the water at one time, so the fish soon learn to hang out at the end I'm not working on.

As you will soon find out the bigger fish you have in your tank will feel much safer if you get them into a tank that is more suited to their size. Balas especially are suppose to be in a tank at least 72", they will feel more secure in a group of 3, and if you meet those requirements, you will notice a much reduced stress reaction as well.