Vacuum Completely

So when you vacuum gravel, do you vacuum gravel completely to get all the dirt and waste out?

 

Well dirt does not exist in my tanks but I do get deep down into the substrate. Very much for my community tank with messy snails.

 

Well dirt does not exist in my tanks but I do get deep down into the substrate. Very much for my community tank with messy snails.

I don’t think they meant literal dirt

I go in a grid pattern through my tank. Syphon into the gravel, lift and let the gravel fall back down, move to the next spot, repeat

 

I have an undergravel filter, and a sponge filter in my tank. I do a superficial vacuum all over to suck up visible bits, then deep clean about 1/3 of the tank, a different section each time I do my water change. Some areas I always pay special attention to, like the area where I feed my snails, and under tank decorations, which tend to accumulate a lot of stuff around them.

I do this while I'm doing my water changes! In my 30 gallon aquarium, it's usually somewhere between 10 and 15 Gallons a week, depending on how messy my gravel is or how high my nitrates have gotten.

 

If you feed the correct amount and have the correct flow/filtration, you can gravel vac minimally. I do a light gravel vac in the area I feed every water change (once a week) and a full gravel vac once a month but usually 2 weeks after cleaning my cannister to minimize bacteria loss.

 

I use an Ehiem battery operated gravel vac that doesn’t remove water from the tank so I do a very thorough vacuuming. There is no worry of over-draining the tank.....