how do you clean real small substrate

by **bigduke45123** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:47 am

In my 55 gal tank I have really small substrate and I am not sure how to clean it because when I try to use a vac on it it just get sucked up and either clogs my vac or goes in the bucket. Is there a easier way to clean it?

by **a1k8t31524** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 9:07 pm

well if you hold it just above the surface do that the vac only sucks up the detrius and all that, or they have vaccumes that have a larger tube at the end so that when the gravel get so far up the tube the suction can not hold it anymore and it falls back down

by **a70m1c** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:54 pm

After adding sand to the bottom of 2 my tanks i had the same problem. I went out and bought a vac with the biggest diameter i could. (the end is about the size of a Mug) This way the sand falls back down before it hits the top. this has also stopped baby apple snails from jamming the suction because they now fall back down too. With my skinner vac i would have to keep my finger over the end and when a snail got sucked up i would have to stop flow and let it fall out!

by **bigduke45123** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 12:35 pm

ok thanks guys I have a vac that is olny about an inch and a half in diam and it seems that it is always getting clogged up I have two tanks one is a 30 gal with medium size gravel in it and the other is a 55 planted with small gravel which has been giving me the trouble but I will try and get a bigger vac and see if that helps out or not thanks again

how do you clean real small substrate

4 posts