Does anyone still vacuum the gravel when doing water changes?

[HookTheBrotherUp]

I still do this, but don't know if it is something I should, or should not be doing. Seems I always pick up some white stuff, and of course, looks like fish poop. But when I see the nice aquascapes, I wonder if those designers also vacuum their gravel when doing water changes. So, what is the norm these days?

[Mzungu]

I sure do! But definitely not on all my tanks. If you can do it, I say do it. It's never a bad thing to do, IMO. But sometimes it'd mess stuff up, and other times, like with sand, it would just suck up all the substrate. And some of my planted tanks are just too full to do so, but I usually take the gravel vac to them anyways and suck up stuff where I can, even though it may not be actually vacuuming the gravel.

For those with nice aquascapes, it really all depends on how everything settles in the tank, to tell the truth. Sometimes you can stir things up with your hand and, with enough suction, you can pick up stuff via the water column rather than sucking up the substrate. :)

[supadave]

A lot of the nice scapes that you see on this site are Troph and Petro tanks . These tanks are usually extremely high current and high flow tanks and due to that high flow and current....debris does not settle as much as normal flow tanks . High flow rates keep debris suspended longer...therefore making it easier for the filters to do their job of filtering . All my tanks are high flow and I rarely have to vacuum the substrate anymore .

[myjohnson]

+1.

My canister suck most of it up.

But in turn, I have to clean my canisters more often.

[jhenry]

+2 I haven't vaced my gravel in. Actually I can't remember the last time I did it. Like Dave said in our high flow tanks debris doesn't have the chance to settle.

[IvanSanchez]

In my planted 10gal i take my siphon and stir up the top of the gravel with my hand and let the filter and the siphon suck up the debris.
That or suck the gravel in and stop suction on the draining end to allow all the gravel to fall out of the hose.
Either way works for me, but definitely really hard trying to clean gravel in my 10gal with all my delicate stargrass in there.

[algarciajr]

I vacuum all of my tanks when doing my water changes every time.

[danielp]

I vacuum every time.

[wesleydnunder]

I vac to some degree in all the tanks as needed.

Mark

[Cichlidfarm]

It is a must. No matter how strong your filter is. Don't be lazy on your fish or it will cost you $$ in the long run.

[fshfrk]

I have not vacuumed in years. I don't see the need with high flow and a thin sandbed. If I had gravel I would vac every week.

[nhung]

I have thick planted tanks. It is really hard to vacuum and not disturb the plants. I have not done it in a while.

[TexmexVin590]

I vacuum...but I only have gravel tanks! I'm sure sand and planted tanks are much harder.

[Ca Nguyen]

i vacuum gravel, but leave plant substrate alone. like most, when i can't do it, i install a mini power head and stir the water a little before removing the water.

[Krisvalkyrie]

I don't vacuum my tank but it is heavily planted. I have a lot of fish/shrimp/snails that make an effective clean up crew, so there is often no wasted food.