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To gravel vac or not to gravel vac?


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I am new to plants in this tank. I included pictures so you can see the layout of my tank and the amount of rooted plants in my tank.  my question is, do you gravel vac around the plants or stop gravel vacuuming once you have rooted plants in there so you don't disturb any runners or root growth? I've read that some people vacuum around plants or just the surface of the substrate. Some info: I just added cryptocoryne today in the left corner. And I have aponogeton and an Amazon sword on the right side. I also have some snails too.

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Edited by FishObsessed
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Personally I don't gravel vac at all. I let the mulm get mixed into my substrate by my bottom dwellers to provide nutrients, but my tanks are sand or sand caps and very heavily planted. Since you're using a larger size colored gravel you may still want to gravel vac but just do the surface around the plants so you don't disturb the roots. Certain plants barely notice when you mess with their roots but most heavy root feeders won't like it. 

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Another thing to consider is how heavily stocked your tank is. For example, if you have tons of guppies, eating like little piggies & pooping everywhere, you have to vacc. 😁

But it won't bother your plants to do deep gravel vacuuming around them, as long as you don't push the wand right up against them & then push down with it. The edges of the tube could cut or dislodge the roots.

Keep a good distance around each plant, only cleaning the top of the gravel right next to them, & you should be fine to deep clean in other areas.

I hope that helps!

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