Hi all, I have just changed my substrate in my display over from largeish calc carb to a much finer allmost sand like calcium carb, it looks great, but before I come to clean it I was just wondering if anyone has any tricks on how to clean it without sucking it all up, I was thinking I could use a smaller dia hose or catch the gravel in a net, but before I do anything, does anyone have a simple way that works effectively? Cheers<
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>Ash.....<
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mate i have the exact same problem<
>couldnt use the gravel vac.. just sucks all the sand<
>i did ask this few weeks back<
>some 1 said just use the small hose that u use to attach the bigger vacumm part too<
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>didnt really make much difference for me for some reason and being a 6x2 would take me ages<
>so im not bothering anymore <
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>cheers<
>sean
well the only other way is to drain the water down to say 1 third and stir the gravel up with your hands have the tap on and filling from one end of the tank and suck from the other, once all the water is clear, stop sucking and continue filling, this just means you,ve done 100% water change so unless you have a water filter you''ll need some dechlorination chem.<
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>id rather use the filtered water.....<
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hmm there has to be an easier way........<
>might get creative and try a few different variations of the syphon style cleaner, ive got a few lying around.......... Cheers<
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>Ash.....<
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well you could suck it all out onto a driveway into a big bin, all the gravel will settle and the water will overflow over the top to the bucket. But you need a steep dropoff to get the suction presure. thats what i do with my fine calcium carb, but its not quite as fine as sand, so it does settle in the bucket.<
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>then just slowly tip the water off, and wash all the gravel with a hose, then put it back into the tank.
I''m assuming its kinda like sand. with my sand tanks I use the gravel vac held about .75-1" above the substrate surace and do gentle swirl motions to help stir the yuck off the bottom and into your tube. You should be right with a bit o practice. You may also need to "airate" your substrate weekly as well, just use a chop stick or similar and run through the substrate to keep loose and stop nasty gas pockets forming or building up. HTH<
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>Andrew<
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yep, if it''s like sand i just syphon the top of the sand and deliberately suck up the top layer of sand.<
>then with the little bit of sand i get i just wash it out in a bucket then add it back to the tank.<
>but it''s easy to just suck the crap of the surface of the sand and not get any sand <
>adam Greenslopes - 0422 329 647.
mate get a 2lt bottle of coke, cut the end off it and put ya garden hose in the screw end.<
>it might be large enough to suck the @#%$ but not the sand.<
>just thought of that now!<
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tis worth a try, and doesnt cost much....... Cheers<
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>Ash.....<
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>The last 3 ideas will work, <
>I wouldn''t try Waynes first suggestion.<
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>Frenchy "A house full of people is a house full of different points of view"<
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Simple solution : Dont use a gravel vac and dont worry about cleaning your gravel.<
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>Just keep up with your regular water changes and let the fish and the biological fauna in your tank take care of the rest. Easy.<
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>Pro''s: Less time wasted on gravel cleaning when maintaining your tank; substrate doesn''t end up down the drain; fishes habitat doesn''t get disturbed and fishes dont get stressed every time you do a water change/gravel clean; tank looks more like a natural/wild underwater environment - detritus and all.<
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>Con''s: There aren''t any.<
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>I never gravel clean, havn''t done so for years, waste of time, to much effort. I''d rather my tank mimic a natural environment, including the decomposing organic detritus on the bottom, which in an established tank will decompose and be taken care of by the biological fauna in my tank, I then do a water change and the organic wastes are diluted. So who goes around and cleans the gravel in all the rivers and creeks around the country??? No-one. Undisturbed natural aquatic environments always seem to be healthy and full of life, probably because no one goes round stirring them up with a gravel cleaner. All I do is partial waterchanges every week, make sure my filter is healthy and working properly, feed the fish and clean the front glass so i can see my fish. I then let mother nature take care of the rest. Thats just the way i do things. <
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>Aaron
I was gonna ask if anyone doesnt clean there gravel........<
>mines only about 1.5-2cm deep at the very most and since I''ve changed it, my surinamesis and parrots sift through it alot more , as its smaller ,its easier for them to pick up, so they are infact constantly churning the substrate for me.So both me and my fish are happy, but I will see how it goes..........thanks for the comments people Cheers<
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>Ash.....<
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