how important is vacuuming gravel bed?

[Tank]

I'm wondering how important it is to vacuum the gravel in a freshwater tank and how often. I've read different opinions, as well as differences in how to do it (i.e. do a 1/4 of the bottom per water change). If one is utilizing the gravel as a biological filter, doesn't the fish waste decompose on its own? If it doesn't seem to be building up at all (i.e. none is visible), is it still important to vacuum?
Is it more important with certain fish than others?
Thanks!

 

[LSUFireGal]

I know nothing about freshwater tanks, but I know some people here with saltwater tanks that don't vacuum the sand.

 

[ReefApprentice]

I would sift the gravel beacuse food and detuis might be resting in there relasing excess nitrates and phosphates.I have a saltwater and i sift the sand during a WC.

 

[DaveK]

This depends upon the type of FW tank you have and if you are using undergravel filters and/or live plants.

If you have an undergravel filter it is important to vacuum the gravel and do it all the way to the filter plate. You want it clean, but not too clean, since this it your primary biological filter. With under gravel filters, you also need to flush out from under the filter plate from time to time. Some people do an almost complete tear down and set up of the tank every few years. If you don't to this cleaning you will tend to get dead spots in the filter bed, because that area is clogged with dirt.

If you don't use an under gravel filter, then you still want to vacuum but only go about 1" deep.

In planted tanks where a material such as layerite is mixed with the bottom layer of gravel, be sure you don't vacuum into that layer.

In FW tanks you don't usually have nitrate or phosphate issues, because in non planted tanks, you are using rather low light levels, so there should be little of no algae. In planted tanks, nitrate and phosphate are plant food, so as long as the levels don't get too high, the plants will consume it. It's amazing hoy much a dense planted tank can pull out.

 

[Tank]

This depends upon the type of FW tank you have and if you are using undergravel filters and/or live plants.

If you have an undergravel filter it is important to vacuum the gravel and do it all the way to the filter plate. You want it clean, but not too clean, since this it your primary biological filter. With under gravel filters, you also need to flush out from under the filter plate from time to time. Some people do an almost complete tear down and set up of the tank every few years. If you don't to this cleaning you will tend to get dead spots in the filter bed, because that area is clogged with dirt.

If you don't use an under gravel filter, then you still want to vacuum but only go about 1" deep.

In planted tanks where a material such as layerite is mixed with the bottom layer of gravel, be sure you don't vacuum into that layer.

In FW tanks you don't usually have nitrate or phosphate issues, because in non planted tanks, you are using rather low light levels, so there should be little of no algae. In planted tanks, nitrate and phosphate are plant food, so as long as the levels don't get too high, the plants will consume it. It's amazing hoy much a dense planted tank can pull out.

Thanks for all the info!
Yes, it relies on an "undergravel filter" (I call it a bio filter). There are no plants and no light other than ambient room lighting.
Seems like a balance between getting rid of some of the poop but not disturbing the gravel and bacteria too much...

 

[theplantman]

In the planted tank 55 I had for years i would vacuum the gravel areas that were 3" away from plants to the glass bottom. My gravel was 50% flourite and 50% pea gravel 1/4-3/8" diameter, mixed together and about 2.5-3" deep. I only vacuumed once every 3 months which was when I did my water changes and even then because of the balance between stocking and plants i didn't need to change the water, it was clear and odorless and ph was always stable with no ammonia. Easiest tank I have ever kept. I had it up and going for 15 years.

 

[Tank]

In the planted tank 55 I had for years i would vacuum the gravel areas that were 3" away from plants to the glass bottom. My gravel was 50% flourite and 50% pea gravel 1/4-3/8" diameter, mixed together and about 2.5-3" deep. I only vacuumed once every 3 months which was when I did my water changes and even then because of the balance between stocking and plants i didn't need to change the water, it was clear and odorless and ph was always stable with no ammonia. Easiest tank I have ever kept. I had it up and going for 15 years.

Good info! Thanks. I'm not sure if I need to worry as much as I do about vacuuming the gravel. My current tank at home is doing well (clean water and happy fish) and I don't vacuum very much, but do the water changes religiously. I want to set up a duplicate tank at the office and I don't know how easy it will be to do vacuuming there. It seems like with a light fish load and water monitoring I should be ok.

I appreciate all the input! Thanks again!

 

[theplantman]

One thing to remember is I did not use an undergravel filter. I used a canister and the tank was well planted.

 

[PEMfish]

Its very important in any FW tank.

Debris will become trapped and rot in the gravel bed. You need to remove this. Its along the lines of flushing the toilet after your done.

Planted tanks should rely on fertilizers for nutrients; you have more control over them, and you wont introduce anything, such as sulfur, that you don’t want to.