Gravel Cleaning

[Taiko]

I'm curious how often you guys clean your gravel when doing water changes?

Thanks

[chc]

I haven't kept gravel very deep for years, so a quick stir was all I'd generally do.

If I had a bed of a couple of inches or more (for whatever reason) I'd probably quickly vac it with every change unless it was in a heavily planted tank.

Often times gravel beds collect more waste than the filter, so cleaning it up a bit takes a great deal of solid waste out of the system.

[Matt Quinn]

I'm also a "less is more" guy in the gravel / sand department... but I try to siphon gunk off of the bottom each week...

Matt

I haven't kept gravel very deep for years, so a quick stir was all I'd generally do.

If I had a bed of a couple of inches or more (for whatever reason) I'd probably quickly vac it with every change unless it was in a heavily planted tank.

Often times gravel beds collect more waste than the filter, so cleaning it up a bit takes a great deal of solid waste out of the system.

[Taiko]

I usually do it every week, I just didn't want to go overboard with it.

Thanks!!

[slimbolen99]

I make sure that if I have deep sand that I keep it stirred pretty good, to keep the anaerobic bacteria from building up. With gravel, or a substrate that has pretty good gaps in-between, i barely brush the top of it and let the mulm build up under the first "layer" of grains.

[sheag35]

personally when doing weekly water changes on the tanks i have with substrate (i prefer minimal substrate if any, so much easier to clean a bare bottomed tank) i will clean 1/3 of the gravel bed, i find in this way your gravel still holds onto some benefical bacteria yet every month your gravel has been cleaned and one section has been done twice.. just my 2 cents ;)

[fansierra]

So how much gravel is good? Two inches? Less? I want my aquarium to be the healthiest it can be. I am new to african cichlids and I love them.

[chc]

So how much gravel is good? Two inches? Less? I want my aquarium to be the healthiest it can be. I am new to african cichlids and I love them.

Since it tends to trap waste and serve little purpose once the bottom of the (reflective) glass is covered, not much gravel is needed. Of course, live plants or tanks with sand sifting species would need more.

(That doesn't include the use of a gravel bed in biological filtration as in the use of an undergravel filter.)

[vman]

I clean the sand during my weekly water changes .