Is it bad for being too clean?

[kimkeat]

Hi,

I came across the following statements in another forum.

"Vacuuming the substrate is the second worst thing you can do to a functioning aquarium."

"A shrimp/fish tank should never be vacuumed in any way as it will suck up many beneficial bacteria and disturb the chemical balance."


My questions:

1. How true are the above statements?

2. My cherry shrimp tank has no substrate but I siphon the shrimp poop out daily. Is it a bad practice?

3. In the above process, I remove about 2 to 3% of the tank water. I will then top up the water. With this minor water change daily, is there any need for major water change?

Thank you.

[Urban Aquaria]

Well... the majority of beneficial bacteria cling on to substrate surface areas, very little float around in the water, so vacuuming the substrate wouldn't be removing that much of them... unless alot of the soil or gravel themselves are also removed by the vacuuming, or there is insufficient filtration and the filter bio-media is so weak that it has difficulty maintaining a stable cycle.

That being said, there is a potential issue when vacuuming and disturbing gravel or soil substrate too aggressively as that might toss waste material all around the tank and generate an ammonia spike, so have to be careful when doing such cleaning activities.

For a bare-bottom tank, there isn't any issue with siphoning out the poop daily, instead it'll help keep ammonia and nitrates in check... unless you are relying on the poop breakdown to fertilize the plants in the tank (and not dosing ferts), then maybe constant cleaning may reduce the amount of natural nutrients available for the plants

Depending on your bio-load, if you are doing mini-water changes of 2-3% every day, then you may not need to do as many major water changes. But if you notice the nitrate levels are still rising faster than your mini-water changes can remove them, then have to do larger water changes accordingly.

[thebaldingaquarist]

My questions:

1. How true are the above statements?
[me] its true. But it applies to tanks where there are no growing rooted plants in the substrate or the substrate is not thin.

2. My cherry shrimp tank has no substrate but I siphon the shrimp poop out daily. Is it a bad practice?
[me] no, its not a bad practice, but its not a necessary practice unless your filter is too small or too new or filter media is too little for the tank.

3. In the above process, I remove about 2 to 3% of the tank water. I will then top up the water. With this minor water change daily, is there any need for major water change?
[me] if your tank has no growing plant mass, then you should do a major water change periodically. this is because if you have no plants, there is nothing absorbing the output from the bacteria (thats breaking down the decaying material)

in a simplistic calculation where a hobbyist feeds on a daily basis and there no plant mass or weak growing plant mass, at the end of the 100 days, you will have a lot more "compounds" in the tank if you do not do a major water change versus in the scenario if you do.
assuming we have 10 units of compounds added into the tank everyday.

	Weekly Water change 50%	Daily Water change 3%
day 0	1.00	1.00
day 1	11.00	10.67
day 2	21.00	20.05
day 3	31.00	29.15
day 4	41.00	37.97
day 5	51.00	46.53
day 6	61.00	54.84
day 7	30.50	62.89
day 8	40.50	70.71
day 9	50.50	78.29
day 10	60.50	85.64
day 11	70.50	92.77
day 12	80.50	99.68
day 13	90.50	106.39
day 14	45.25	112.90
day 15	55.25	119.22
day 16	65.25	125.34
day 17	75.25	131.28
day 18	85.25	137.04
day 19	95.25	142.63
day 20	105.25	148.05
day 21	52.63	153.31
day 22	62.63	158.41
day 23	72.63	163.36
day 24	82.63	168.16
day 25	92.63	172.81
day 26	102.63	177.33
day 27	112.63	181.71
day 28	56.31	185.96
day 29	66.31	190.08
day 30	76.31	194.08
day 31	86.31	197.95
day 32	96.31	201.71
day 33	106.31	205.36
day 34	116.31	208.90
day 35	58.16	212.34
day 36	68.16	215.67
day 37	78.16	218.90
day 38	88.16	222.03
day 39	98.16	225.07
day 40	108.16	228.02
day 41	118.16	230.87
day 42	59.08	233.65
day 43	69.08	236.34
day 44	79.08	238.95
day 45	89.08	241.48
day 46	99.08	243.94
day 47	109.08	246.32
day 48	119.08	248.63
day 49	59.54	250.87
day 50	69.54	253.04
day 51	79.54	255.15
day 52	89.54	257.20
day 53	99.54	259.18
day 54	109.54	261.11
day 55	119.54	262.97
day 56	59.77	264.78
day 57	69.77	266.54
day 58	79.77	268.24
day 59	89.77	269.90
day 60	99.77	271.50
day 61	109.77	273.05
day 62	119.77	274.56
day 63	59.88	276.03
day 64	69.88	277.45
day 65	79.88	278.82
day 66	89.88	280.16
day 67	99.88	281.45
day 68	109.88	282.71
day 69	119.88	283.93
day 70	59.94	285.11
day 71	69.94	286.26
day 72	79.94	287.37
day 73	89.94	288.45
day 74	99.94	289.49
day 75	109.94	290.51
day 76	119.94	291.49
day 77	59.97	292.45
day 78	69.97	293.38
day 79	79.97	294.27
day 80	89.97	295.15
day 81	99.97	295.99
day 82	109.97	296.81
day 83	119.97	297.61
day 84	59.99	298.38
day 85	69.99	299.13
day 86	79.99	299.85
day 87	89.99	300.56
day 88	99.99	301.24
day 89	109.99	301.90
day 90	119.99	302.55
day 91	59.99	303.17
day 92	69.99	303.78
day 93	79.99	304.36
day 94	89.99	304.93
day 95	99.99	305.48
day 96	109.99	306.02
day 97	119.99	306.54
day 98	60.00	307.04
day 99	70.00	307.53
day 100	80.00	308.01
day 101	90.00	308.47
day 102	100.00	308.91
day 103	110.00	309.34
day 104	120.00	309.76
day 105	60.00	310.17
day 106	70.00	310.57
day 107	80.00	310.95
day 108	90.00	311.32
day 109	100.00	311.68
day 110	110.00	312.03
day 111	120.00	312.37
day 112	60.00	312.70

the above table does not apply if your tank has plenty of plant mass. this is because plants take up various "compounds" and convert them into plant cells or lock them within the plant.

[kimkeat]

Thanks both Urban Aquaria and thebaldingaquarist.