Gravel cleaning

[deborah]

Out of curiosity, how often do some of you clean your gravel (if you use gravel as a substrate)? And what method(s) do you use?

I want to avoid the buildup of toxins in my vivarium, but at the same time I don't want to eliminate all of the helpful bacteria in there.

The tank I am concerned about is my 28-gallon bowfront. The tank houses 4 T. Granulosa.

It has a backside built out of driftwood, coco fiber and great-stuff, sealed with silicone, with live plants and moss growing on the driftwood.

The bottom third of the tank is under water with a gravel substrate about 2 inches thick. the gravel is very large to avoid the newts accidently ingesting any.

There are two filter tubes, one on each side of the tank, which suck water from under the gravel, up behind the backside, and out to an external filter. After filtration, the water is returned to the tank via 8 tiny watervalls which continuously drip down the back, thus feeding the plants and keeping the moss moist.

I don't use any potting soil for the plants, they grow out of damp sphagnum moss and their roots hang down into the water.

I don't do a lot of cleaning of this tank, just water changes and occasional vacuuming of the gravel. But I am curious as to how often some of you would recommend gravel cleaning...

I tested the water recently and ammonia levels were tolerable, but higher than I am comfortable with.

Would appreciate anyone's viewpoints.

 

[foster]

Deborah,
In the aquariums that I have kept over the years I usually do about a 10% water change weekly, using a siphon to vacuum debris from the gravel. I cannot comment specifically about this process for newt enclosures at this point (the kweichow enclosure has only been up and running for a week now - first partial in a few weeks) however I've never had a problem with fish tanks using this method. I cannot imagine that it would be much different however.
Chip

 

[deborah]

Thank you, Chip. So you do it once per week with a siphon. That's about the same as what I've been doing. How thoroughly do you vacuum your gravel? I am concerned about being "too thorough" because I don't want to destroy the good bacteria ecology I have going.

 

[jennifer]

Hi Deborah, it sounds like a really neat tank. How long has it been set up? I'm a tiny bit concerned about your statement that the ammonia level is tolerable. If the tank has been running for more than a month or so, the ammonia level should really be zero (or below the detection level of a test kit).

I don't want to be an alarmist, but if there is a detectable level of ammonia on a regular basis, then ammonia production is exceeding the capacity of your biofiltration. Could you make the gravel a thinner layer? Also, do you have the kind of siphon that has a very wide opening specifically for gravel? These work well. Also, have you used live blackworms (which may have built up too large a population in the gravel)? Just some ideas for you.

Another thing you may want to keep tabs on is the pH. With peat moss in there, the pH will tend to decrease. If you have hard water, this will not likely be a problem.

 

[foster]

Deborah,
I usually just hit a different area of the bottom each week, using a gravel vac like Jen described. With only 10% changes each time I have never worried about disrupting the bacterial colony.
Chip