How do you clean the dirt in thick planted tank

[crazyfish]

Hi

Saw LFS and bros pic on thick planted tank with fishes. Just wonder how do you clean the dirt on the gravel?

For mine(very small portion of java fern tank), I have used the pump that will not suck up the gravel. I change 2 pails of water weekly for 3ft tank. But then, didn't seem to be very clean. Whenever, I do suck the dirt on the gravel, all the dirt nearby starts to move around in the tank. It will take awhile for the dirt to settle down again. But then, the dirt is still on the gravel again....

any good way of changing water??

[Synthesia]

I'm still new,btw i think a few yamatoes will help? Or maybe i'm just plain wrong

[|squee|]

Frankly the dirt will do the plants good. Plus it shouldn't bother you when it's a thickly planted tank, it'll all be hidden.

In a planted tank, the gravel is supposed to be left alone

[citizen]

will it cause bad bacteria to build up in the gravel?

[alanyeo99]

I do a bit of siphoning in the area where sand is exposed. Other than that, leave the rest alone.

btw Synthesia, Yamato don't eat dirt, they eat algae. The shits are beneficial fertilisers to the plants.

[|squee|]

Excessive buildup resulting in "bad bacteria" or anaerobic conditions will happen after the tank has been around for at least a year or two imho. So should be no worry about not clearing up any present "dirt".

[Synthesia]

Can this fish help??
http://images.google.com.my/images?q...suckerfish.jpg

Its called a "Bandaraya" fish in Malaysia , all it does is clean off dirt and its like 2 bucks for one.I'm not sure wheter it will help,just trying to help you out=)
c
h
e
e
r
s

[gorilla83]

imo, suckerfish don't eat dirt and poop either... but there might be some food for it to eat amongst the dirt...
my suckerfish eats algae and leftover fish food and poops like crazy...
they will grow quite big too, if conditions are right...


regarding crazyfish's question...
i think gravel is a real headache to clean when it's real dirty...
only way is a gravel cleaner i suppose...
also regular cleaning seems to be the key..

in addition, i think one mustn't also have too many fishes one wants easier maintenance; if there's too many fishes, the poop they generate is faster than the rate at which you remove them, thus causing dirt and poop to accumulate over time.

so you might want to reduce fish load for easier maintenance

[crazyfish]

i was thinking changing my exiting fine gravel to bigger marble garvel(5cents size). When siphon it will be much easier. Any comment?

[budak]

i doubt it will help. You need firstly to understand the working principles of biological filtration in a planted tank: i.e. that fish poo will be converted by nitrifying bacteria into ammonia >> nitrite >> and finally nitrate which is taken up by the plants. A good filtration system helps accelerate this process greatly. So for most planted tanks, there should be no need to do regularly siphonings of the gravel – weekly or fortnightly partial water changes will be enough.

Now, unless you give much more detail about your setup (equipment, livestock, plants etc) or better a picture, I doubt it's possible to give real further help.

[AquaObsession]

That pleco fish does not clean dirt..it eats algae, mostly brown algae... and it shits like ....

But it's a very very effective algae remover.

[alanyeo99]

Marble will trap more dirt! You mentioned only Java Fern in your setup. Does it means nothing else planted on the gravel? If this is true, then use just enough sand to cover only tank base which will makes maintenance easier. Assuming biological filtration is taken care of by your canister. A gravel cleaner should works well.