# Cleaning a planted tank



## Sirey4 (Jul 24, 2004)

Alright, I'm just wondering how you people clean your tank. My sources tell me different things. As of now i have gravel in my tank and one of my friends tells me to suck up all the black stuff hidden in it. Another one of them tell me to leave it because the junk is good for the plants. I'm not sure what to do. Also, if i were to suck up the gravel, my plants become unrooted over and over again, because the roots are all over the place and its hard enough for me to cover all of them with my gravel. Any suggestions?


----------



## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

just dont gravel vac near where teh plants are. you do want to get all the poop out that you can. if not, problems will arise.


----------



## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

also sand is easy, plants stay rooted good, and all the poo collects in one spot and you just hover the gravel vac above it and collect all the poo.


----------



## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

You can do a gravel cleaning but just don't hurt the roots of the plants.

Note that i never do gravel cleaning cause i have leaf mold as a substrate.


----------



## IronMike (Jun 27, 2004)

What is leaf mold? have any pics of what it looks like?


----------



## EZ_Ian (Feb 21, 2004)

IronMike said:


> What is leaf mold? have any pics of what it looks like?


 yea, whats leaf mold?


----------



## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

It is like normal plant gravel,like the one you buy from the flower shop and it is made out of dead leaves.It is a very good source of nutrients and it is chemical free!


----------



## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

My 120 is heavily planted and I never clean the gravel. I always heard about mulm buildup but with 15 cory's, 3 banjo cats, a pleco and ramshorn snails I haveno mulm at all. Here's the tank, waters not as green as it seems in the picture though it is too green but the fish don't mind.


----------



## Sirey4 (Jul 24, 2004)

What is mulm? I think i've decided to just hover my vacuum over the plants and gravel, and only put it in gravel where there are no surrounding plants at all.


----------



## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

Sirey4 said:


> What is mulm? I think i've decided to just hover my vacuum over the plants and gravel, and only put it in gravel where there are no surrounding plants at all.


 Mulm is the stuff that accumulates at the bottom of fishtanks, mostly used when talking about planted tanks. It's composed of plant bits, uneaten food & other waste.


----------

