Gravel Vac Question

My 4' tank has been established for nearly 5 weeks now and has cycled
nicely. The water is superbly clear and the parameters AOK. But the plants
are poor, straggly things which dont seem to be growing roots properly,
dammit. The substrate is quite fine gravel. I believe my lighting is ample
and I've been adding plant fertilizer daily. Having googled the symptoms it
seems I need to increase my light time so I've now done that. But in the
course of googling I now think I may be being a bit too enthusiastic with
the gravel vac during my at least weekly 25% water changes. I've been
pushing it right to the bottom of the gravel and delighting in all the yuck
that comes up. Maybe I'm going too deep and robbing the plants of the
nutrients. Waddyathink? What advice would you give me? Thanks.

"rapdor" wrote in message
...
My 4' tank has been established for nearly 5 weeks now and has cycled
nicely. The water is superbly clear and the parameters AOK. But the
plants
are poor, straggly things which dont seem to be growing roots properly,
dammit. The substrate is quite fine gravel. I believe my lighting is
ample
and I've been adding plant fertilizer daily. Having googled the symptoms
it
seems I need to increase my light time so I've now done that. But in the
course of googling I now think I may be being a bit too enthusiastic with
the gravel vac during my at least weekly 25% water changes. I've been
pushing it right to the bottom of the gravel and delighting in all the
yuck
that comes up. Maybe I'm going too deep and robbing the plants of the
nutrients. Waddyathink? What advice would you give me? Thanks.



Saying "lighting is ample" and "parameters AOK" doesn't give us enough info
to help you. Something wrong with your lighting or water is much more likely
to be the problem than overzealous vacuuming. Please post a little more
info, such as Ammonia, ph, nitrite, Nitrate, kh, gh, watts of light,
duration of light, type of plants, # and type of fish, type of filtration,
all this info will help.

...and CO2 levels.

BTW - you don't need to gravel vac in a planted aquarium. Just suck the
mulm off the surface.

"Dinky" wrote in message
...

"rapdor" wrote in message
...
My 4' tank has been established for nearly 5 weeks now and has cycled
nicely. The water is superbly clear and the parameters AOK. But the
plants
are poor, straggly things which dont seem to be growing roots properly,
dammit. The substrate is quite fine gravel. I believe my lighting is
ample
and I've been adding plant fertilizer daily. Having googled the
symptoms
it
seems I need to increase my light time so I've now done that. But in
the
course of googling I now think I may be being a bit too enthusiastic
with
the gravel vac during my at least weekly 25% water changes. I've been
pushing it right to the bottom of the gravel and delighting in all the
yuck
that comes up. Maybe I'm going too deep and robbing the plants of the
nutrients. Waddyathink? What advice would you give me? Thanks.



Saying "lighting is ample" and "parameters AOK" doesn't give us enough
info
to help you. Something wrong with your lighting or water is much more
likely
to be the problem than overzealous vacuuming. Please post a little more
info, such as Ammonia, ph, nitrite, Nitrate, kh, gh, watts of light,
duration of light, type of plants, # and type of fish, type of filtration,
all this info will help.

IMHO - The only good use of a Gravel vac in a planted aquarium is as a
reactor tube.

Ed


On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 13:36:39 GMT, "Ghazanfar Ghori"
wrote:



..and CO2 levels.

BTW - you don't need to gravel vac in a planted aquarium. Just suck the
mulm off the surface.

"Dinky" wrote in message
...

"rapdor" wrote in message
...
My 4' tank has been established for nearly 5 weeks now and has cycled
nicely. The water is superbly clear and the parameters AOK. But the
plants
are poor, straggly things which dont seem to be growing roots properly,
dammit. The substrate is quite fine gravel. I believe my lighting is
ample
and I've been adding plant fertilizer daily. Having googled the
symptoms
it
seems I need to increase my light time so I've now done that. But in
the
course of googling I now think I may be being a bit too enthusiastic
with
the gravel vac during my at least weekly 25% water changes. I've been
pushing it right to the bottom of the gravel and delighting in all the
yuck
that comes up. Maybe I'm going too deep and robbing the plants of the
nutrients. Waddyathink? What advice would you give me? Thanks.



Saying "lighting is ample" and "parameters AOK" doesn't give us enough
info
to help you. Something wrong with your lighting or water is much more
likely
to be the problem than overzealous vacuuming. Please post a little more
info, such as Ammonia, ph, nitrite, Nitrate, kh, gh, watts of light,
duration of light, type of plants, # and type of fish, type of filtration,
all this info will help.

"Ghazanfar Ghori" wrote in message
et...


BTW - you don't need to gravel vac in a planted aquarium. Just suck the
mulm off the surface.


IME, if there are any open areas where the plants root systems do not reach,
the mulm will still build up and eventually cause problems. If you have
solid plants from one end to the other, I'd agree with your statement.

billy

"Ghazanfar Ghori" wrote in message
et...


..and CO2 levels.

BTW - you don't need to gravel vac in a planted aquarium. Just suck the
mulm off the surface.

"Dinky" wrote in message
...

"rapdor" wrote in message
...
My 4' tank has been established for nearly 5 weeks now and has cycled
nicely. The water is superbly clear and the parameters AOK. But the
plants
are poor, straggly things which dont seem to be growing roots
properly,
dammit. The substrate is quite fine gravel. I believe my lighting is
ample
and I've been adding plant fertilizer daily. Having googled the
symptoms
it
seems I need to increase my light time so I've now done that. But in
the
course of googling I now think I may be being a bit too enthusiastic
with
the gravel vac during my at least weekly 25% water changes. I've been
pushing it right to the bottom of the gravel and delighting in all the
yuck
that comes up. Maybe I'm going too deep and robbing the plants of the
nutrients. Waddyathink? What advice would you give me? Thanks.



Saying "lighting is ample" and "parameters AOK" doesn't give us enough
info
to help you. Something wrong with your lighting or water is much more
likely
to be the problem than overzealous vacuuming. Please post a little more
info, such as Ammonia, ph, nitrite, Nitrate, kh, gh, watts of light,
duration of light, type of plants, # and type of fish, type of
filtration,
all this info will help.

OK, here is the other info, and thanks for your interest:

--pH 7.6, Ammonia 0.3, GH 120, KH 80, Nitrite 0.0, dont't have CO2
--light increased yesterday from 10 to 11 hours
--tubes are 1 x Corallife Color Max 30w, 1 x Corallife Actinic Blue 10,000K,
30w and 1 x Corallife Superdaylight 10,000k, 30w
--although its a 4' tank the tubes are 3', which is why I chose 10.000K
--filter is a trickle filter incorporated into the hood; it consists of a
pad about 3" x 15" and a similar area of ceramic noodles
--fish are juvenile, and include 4 corys, 3 bristlenose catfish, 5 glass
catfish, 4 dwarf gouramis, 2 blue gouramis, 5 platties, 4 zebra danios, 8
green barbs, 2 kuhli loaches, 4 apple snails
--plants include lilaeopsis, hemigraphis exotica, elodea densa,
alternanthera, , java moss, anubias, acorus gramineus, cabomba caroliniana
(i think); i know its not an exciting list, that's because I need to learn
how to care for plants before spending serious money on them
--it't mainly the elodea and cabomba that are the most disappointing

Any pointers as to what is wrong, or what I am doing wrong will be
gratefully received.

I use a Python for water changes and I only use the gravel vac piece to
lightly and easily clean 2 sections of the bottom where there are no plants
to remove buildup of crud. I never go deeper than 3 or 4 gravel pellets and
mainly I'm doing it to remove surface scum and that's it. I never use the
gravel vac in any other fashion.

IMO, you are overly using your gravel vac.

OAN, when filling your tank using the Python, submerge the gravel vac piece
and fill it with water....now when you open the valve all the way, it
doesn't create a whirlpool in your tank.

"Dinky" wrote in message
...

"Ghazanfar Ghori" wrote in message
et...


BTW - you don't need to gravel vac in a planted aquarium. Just suck the
mulm off the surface.


IME, if there are any open areas where the plants root systems do not
reach,
the mulm will still build up and eventually cause problems. If you have
solid plants from one end to the other, I'd agree with your statement.

billy