RE: [APD] Vaccuming the gravel for planted tanks

["Quinn, Sherry" <Sherry_Quinn at ingenix.com>]

I vaccuum the gravel in all my planted tanks when I do water changes.  I use
the smallest gravel vaccuum I can find to try to get in and around plants.
Dirty gravel and most likely overcrowding or feeding is contributing to your
Ammonia problem.  What fish do you have in it?  What are your other
parameters - ph, nitrate, nitrite, etc.?  How old is the test kit? Maybe you
have a dead decaying fish hidden in the plants or under a rock?

Sherry  

-----Original Message-----
From: W C [mailto:iceman_78_98 at yahoo_com]
Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2004 2:28 PM
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
Subject: [APD] Vaccuming the gravel for planted tanks


Hello,

I have a question about regular cleaning of planted
tanks. I change about 20% of the water in my 20 gallon
tank every week. People have told me to vaccum gravel
during the cleaning but I'm not so sure if I should do
that with planted tanks. I get the feeling that I
shouldn't disturb the substrate or roots of the
plants. So I haven't cleaned my gravel for a long time
now. What do you guys think? Do you vaccum the gravel
in your planted tank? 

On a slightly different topic, I've been having very
high ammonia reading for about 2 months now. Do you
think this may have been caused by me not vaccuming
the gravel? I've tried everything to get rid of the
ammonia. 40% water changes every other day, but the
ammonia just won't drop? What's going on? Why isn't my
beneficial bacteria growing? Do I have to change the
sponge in my filter (AquaClear 200 on a 20 gallon
tank)

Thanks.
-WC 


		
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