During the water change, I was unable to siphon ALL of the wast, due to not wanting to stress the guys out too much. There's still a bit around the bottom. I've been trying to get it throughout the day...what's the best way to do this without doing a 100% water change?
What I do when my tank is cycling, is I test the ammonia twice a day, morning and night. If at any time the test reads more then 0.5 I will do a water change asap of about 30% (my axies are REAL grots). I always make sure I do a water change at least once a day so that I can keep the ammonia at that level and I am always on the look out for ammonia spikes. Whenever I do a water change, I use the siphon, always. So that any thing in the water can be sucked up, what I don't get on that day, I know it will be there the next day, so don't worry. Oh, when I use the siphon, I vaccuum the sand first and then gently move the siphon through the water to try and collect any 'floaties'. Otherwise, just let your filter suck it up. Anything that is larger (ie. not floating), I just use a turkey blaster (or you can go to the chemist and for less then a $1, you can pick up a 10ml syringe which also works REALLY well) to suck it up.
Paul, you mentioned something about sand substrate. Could you advise on what kind, how much sand at the bottom and how to add it to an already inhabited tank?
As for the sand substrate, you can buy childrens play sand or pool filtered sand. Childrens play sand is the cheapest. Most sands or ok just as lond as its not calci sand (for reptiles), has dyes that will dye plants and water, not beach sand, not coral sand, not made from any old building materials, um I can't remember what else? LOL
Anyway, you only need enough sand to cover the bottom of the tank. If you have plants, you can have up to 1inch of sand, but no more or you run the risk of developing gas pockets.
When you buy the sand, you have to rinse it, and rinse it, and rinse it, oh and did I say rinse it! The best way to do this is to put some sand (only do small amounts at a time) into a bucket add water and swirl it and get your hand in there and mix it up and pour the water out, leaving the sand in the bucket. Keep doing this until the water runs clear, and then do it again to be sure..LOL.
When you add the sand to your tank, it is best to take everything out I find. Put your axies in to a container for a little while. Fill some buckets up with water from your tank to put your hides and decorations in (so that you don't kill your good baterica). And once that is all done, just whack the sand in there, fill the tank up with water and let the sand settle for awhile before adding the decorations and axies to your tank again.
I hope this helps and I hope I haven't forgotten anything because I'm a preoccupied...LOL
Take care and have fun