Vacuuming you tank

iPesci

How often should you vacuum you tank out?

Amphitrite

I vacuum mine weekly along with the water changes. Prevents dirt from bulding up in the gravel/sand.

Along with this, I clean the inside of the glass with a cloth and scrape any algae off with the edge of a credit card.

fish_4_all

Same here, I gravel vac every week and do as much as I can. I get a little more because I also do 50% water change but unless your tank has an extremely low bioload I would say it should be done at least once a month if not more often just to prevent the chance of gas buildup in the substrate.

leifthebunny

I do mine once a week. As I only do 20% water changes, I only get sections of the gravel cleaned at a time. Even less so with my community tank which has the flourite. I'm almost tempted just to change out the flourite to cut down on the work in the tank. :P

misplacedsooner

once a week for me too and half gravel vac. like your avatars Kateyoup, always wondering whats next.
mike c.

Andyandsue

Once a week for me too, all 3 tanks. I use the vacuum to change the water, about 20-50%. The smaller the tank the more the water.

Love the Pink Floyd reference Kateyoup!

miagrrl

ditto- once a week. used to do it once every other week, and i had a lot of excess nutrients. in my 30 gallon i do one half of the tank one week, and the other side the next week- to avoid changing too much water at one time. i do a deep vac once a month (moving all non-living decor and getting underneath). for my 10 gallon, i can get away with every other week- since there are no live plants, and it is not heavily stocked.

iPesci

Thanks guy! You have really helped!