Vacuuming the substrate

Howl52

I am in absolutely no obligation to give advice but I was told in a planted aquarium never to vacume the gravel

fish_4_all

I would only recommend NOT vacuuming if you have a heavy planted tank with a lot of ground cover. It is best to try and avoid disturbing the roots but if the tank has a lot of open space then I would say that vacuuming is not only possible but recommended.

leifthebunny

Today I did my weekly water change and decided to do a little bit of plant shuffling. I moved one of my plants out of the 90g into the 65g as it doesn't appear to be doing too good in the 90g. I broke out the two wendtiis that I had into 7 different stands and my Wisteria is broken out into 4 different stands. There is a lot of Java Moss in the tank and a bunch of saggitaria along the back. One whole corner of the tank is taken up by Hornwort. Most of the Java Moss is in small clumps right now, but I do have a decent sized grouping that most of the shrimp have decided to move into. When I vaccuumed what little substrate I could reach, most of what I got up was the smaller particles still left over from the flourite. I also have an Anubias in the tank, but right now most things are pretty small. Only the Hornwort is growing significantly. I'm sure the redroot floaters I added won't affect the substrate. :P

My 65g has Wisteria, wendtii, one patch of Java Moss and one patch of Java Fern and some plant which I don't remember the name. It's much less packed with respect to plants.

herefishy

Many aquarists use potted plants if their tanks are not heavily planted. This allows for the plants to be moved, if neccessary without severe damage to the root system.
I use the oppertunity, when conducting a gravel sweep, to re-scape, prune, and split my plants. The gravel needs to be "swept" from time to time to prevent compaction. Compaction is the single biggest reason I went to reverse flow powerheads when using ugf's. The plants in these tanks are doing as well (or better) as those in the tanks without ugf's.

joeshmoe

fish for all hagen got to it first http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...N=2030062&Ne=2

herefishy

I erred in the last post. I meant to say that most do use potted plants in a heavily planted tank. This allows thaem to be moved. Of course, one could also use potted plants in a modestly planted tank for the same reason.

saxenamohitm

I'm myself planning to go for a planted tank having a UG filter already installed in it...could u please explain how would a reverse powerhead help me out with my UGF...
Also potting the plants in an aquarium is also a very nice idea...I just got an idea of using those Pvc pipes as makeshift pots to plant my plants in the tank in mebbe different rows..mebbe this would even help me main my tank better and also help me with a few potential problems i might face..
1. Fertilizers, i didnt use laterite soil cause i had neways installed a UGF...so i needed fertilizers, but even that would be either absorbed below the subsrtate to the base..with potted plants i cud use both laterite and fertilizers..
2. regular maintainence would be easier...like vaccuming the substrate...

Holly

I've been trying to create the perfect tank that will help maintain itself. I know this is impossible but some small things can help. I have sand right now since it's easier to keep clean. When I do my water changes, I just kind of finger around the sand to loosen it up and make sure there's no bad spots. My shrimp also help keep the substrate clean. They are my first line of defense. I lightly disturb the sand before I do a water change so most of the small particles are taken away with the water. I also went with a bigger filter than what I needed for improved quality. My tank is 29g but the filter is for a 90g tank. I blame it mostly on my shrimp. I love those little guys!!

leifthebunny

I do have plenty of shrimp in the tank, but they keep more to the javamoss and Hornwort than work on the substrate. I saw a couple of the rudolph red-nose that might be carrying eggs, so I'm hopeful that I will be getting mroe shrimp. :)

fish_4_all

I don't know about reverse flow UGF and plant growth. One member said they had beautiful tanks and used it but never showed pictures nor any proof of it. I would like to see the results of a reverse flow UGF for use in a planted tank. Remember that you need to put filters on the powerheads to filter the gunk out so it doesn't collect under the plates and strangle the plants and the water flow. Also remember you need to use a substrate that is large enough to not fall through the grates or it will collect under the plates and create anarobic dead spots that can be deadly to the fish. I know, obvious, but I once read about someone using sand with UGF run the normal way so you can never be too careful.