Vacuuming the Tank

Hey guys and gals....I have a question...not sure where to ask it...
I vacuum my tank weekly, that's how I do my water change. Recently, I have been witness, in another forum, to a discussion about how doing that will jack up your bacteria and kill your fish. I have never had a problem, how would you do water changes if you didn't? They were saying that the "python?" was the culprit. Some people put tap water straight into their tanks then add chemical, others bucket it and mix it then put it in....what do you guys do? I know some of you have pretty sensitive fish so I am very curious. Thanks!!!

Oops wrong place....dang it!

I moved it for you.

On to your question, I have a feeling they are referring to vacuuming your gravel weekly. The reason this could be bad is because bacteria grows on rocks, decorations, plants, filters, etc... And if you are vacuuming the gravel every week, you are not allowing the bacteria to grow in the gravel. It is true that it will grow other places as I stated, but the main source of good bacteria is in the gravel. While it is necessary to vacuum the gravel to clean the excess poo and waste it is not necessary to do it every week. I vacuum my sand about once a month, however, i do a water change at least once a week. I try to vacuum on the first of the month every month. That way i know i dont get a build up of excess waste but i still give time for bacteria to grow. My tank is way over stocked and my fish are messier eaters then yours, so trust me when i say you dont have to do weekly vacuums, maybe weekly water changes, but you would be fine with monthly or even bi-monthly vacuuming.

Thanks, see that makes so much more sense to me. Okay, don't vacuum but once a month. How hard is that? Some of those guys at the "other" site are such hmmm, what shall I say, Fish Diva's that they don't even want to answer a simple question. Thanks so much for starting this site and answering my question with such respect. It's very nice.

Your welcome and I am glad I could help you, with respect. That's what we are here for.

Buy a TDS meter ,you can watch the water quality with this. It is inexpensive and tells you how much Total Disolved Solids are present .You can then base the water changes on this educated knowledge. It does not tell you what it is but you can see it rise and fall as you change the water .I only use Prime when I add water .Follow the directions. You do not need anything else to add to your tap water and it is very concentrated so a little will go along way. This will save you alot of money over the other brands. You may add it during the change or in the bucket before.