# How to keep a planted tank clean.



## kelliope (Apr 13, 2006)

My last post about worms in my tank brings me to another question - how do people with planted tanks deal with vacuuming the tank? I can't help but worry about mulm buildup on the bottom. Especially in my tank that has cory cats and an Eco-Complete substrate. The corys are always stiring up the bottom and causing little "mulm dust" clouds. Is that OK? Are the cories going to be ok on the bottom when I can't really vacuum between the plants and driftwood?

Also, today I pulled a number of the plants out to do a bleach dip to get rid of the brush algae (you can see it in the picture). Then I vacuumed really good. It was a total PAIN. Then when I was done I emptied the buckets and there were LEECHES stuck to the bucket. :fear: I am totally horrified! Now I am considering taking this whole tank apart and starting over. How am I supposed to keep my tanks clean with all the plants? How do you all do it???

Here is the tank in question.


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## Lorazoo (Jun 8, 2006)

Beautiful tank! Honestly I dont do much gravel vaccuming in mine. I will do spot cleaning if i see a bunch of plant debris. But, overall, i rely on good filtration, my bottom feeders, snails, and weekly 50% water changes. When I first set up the tank I think I got some worms with my plants. I think they were flatworms. I found 2 in 2 days, but the tank had no fish in it at the time. I never saw another one. I know that overfeeding will allow the parasites to multiply. Maybe cut back on feeding for a while? Fish can go for a week with out being fed, so maybe just feed every few days. It may help. I wouldnt break it down and start over. Just keep up with maintenance and dont overfeed and the population should die back. i wouldnt worry if there were a couple in the tank. I may be wrong but I dont think they will harm the fish.


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

I imagine what you saw are planaria rather than leeches. How large were they? Color?

I don't vacuum my tank at all. If anything I'll wave my hand over the substrate to kick the mulm up, and then siphon as much out as I can during the waterchange.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I would gravel vacuum the areas that you can, and in the other areas, do a quick stir to bring stuff into the water column. Then do a large water change to clean it all out. 

Sometimes all it takes is cleaning the canister filter more often, and adding new filterfloss every time. This enhances flow, and gets rid of some of the nasties. You can introduce a dwarf puffer to get those worms, leeches, snails, and most of your unwanteds. They are excellent hunters and from the looks of your fish and plant coverage, will do perfectly well and in your tank.

Beautiful tank, I wouldn't take it down as it would be a waste of time, and the same issues will likely reoccur. 

-John N.


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

I ended up with a leech (in my filter) once after putting some pond plants in my tank. If you do have them, don't tear down the tank. The majority of freshwater leeches are not parasitic, and your fish will probably think they're a tasty snack.


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## kelliope (Apr 13, 2006)

Thanks guys. I guess I got a little panicky after seeing them. I wonder if adding a loach would help. I have always wanted a true dwarf puffer, but everyone tells me they are too aggressive. I have seen some living in community tanks before though.

I am pretty sure they were leeches. This is NOT picture of my leeches, but it closely resembles what I saw (although they were not on a snail, but rather the bottom of the bucket)










Pretty gross, huh!

Also I have cherry shrimp that I would prefer not get eaten. Would you suggest a loach or a puffer? And if not one of those, is there something else? My tetras seem uniterested in anything on the surface of the water or at the bottom of the tank - definately mid-stream eaters.


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## MiSo (Nov 4, 2005)

i hardly ever vacuum my planted tank. 
once in a while i'll stir up what i can and vacuum what floats up.
but generally speaking, i dont have to vacuum much at all.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

The simpliest and easiest way to keep your tank clean is to not overstock it with fish and feed lightly. I have a 72g with eco-complete and I have several corys and almost nothing gets stirred up. In fact when I uproot a plant I get very little mulm or anything coming out. Most people overfeed their fish and it's one of the worst things you could do especially in a planted high light tank. I feed my fish a smigden once a day six times a week and my fish are full and healthy. This keeps any accumulation in the gravel to a minimum. Listening to the fish instruction on food (two to three times a day) is like listening to the instructions on laundry detergent. Whatever they tell you cut the amount in half.


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## kelliope (Apr 13, 2006)

Yep, I am definately guilty of overfeeding. I have started cutting down. 

The worst overfeeding problems comes with trying to get enough food for the oto cats. They eat algae tabs and some fresh zuccini. But the other fish and snails always get it first so ususally I drop in 2 algae tabs - one for the other fish and snails and one I hope the oto cats (3 otos) get.

Any suggestions on making sure the otos get their fair share? Without overfeeding?


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

_Any suggestions on making sure the otos get their fair share? Without overfeeding?_ Only drop the algae wafers in after lights out. The otos will feed, but most of the mid and upper water column fish will not. Also otos are constantly finding little bits of plant matter and algae it really isn't necessary to feed them the wafers in most cases.


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## wiste (Feb 10, 2006)

> Any suggestions on making sure the otos get their fair share? Without overfeeding?


Keep feeding zucchini.
For my pleco I add large slices of zucchini (weighted with a rock) overnight and remove whatever is not eaten in the morning. I do not boil the zucchini so it is fairly solid overnight.
He seems to like the small darker green ones.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Gravel vac parts of your tank as you uproot them. Over the span of a year you will have vaccumed out the whole tank.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I used to have quite a bit of mulm build up in my 55g show tank. I vacuumed it about twice a week.

I modified a diatom filter to be an underwater vacuum cleaner. I did this by adding about 2 feet worth of tubing to the intake tube and adding a grating over the open end of the tube.

This setup allowed my to press the grating directly onto the surface of the gravel and the current would suck mulm out from between the substrate partials and safely trap it in my diatom filter. The beauty of this vacuum was that since the grate was pressing down on the substrate it didn't actually become displaced so i could vacuum HC/Glosso/foreground plants without uprooting them.


Anyway, after a while I reduced the lighting and removed the plecos that created most of the mulm by chewing up my wood. The reduced lighting intensity and duration really helped since the metabolism of the tank slowed down considerably and it did not produce as much waste as when I had 4wpg.


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## Petah (Mar 1, 2006)

Holey Bba!!


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## Rich M (Mar 6, 2004)

Those are leeches in the pic, they use snails as a host. Usually only large snails. I had them come in with some mystery snails. They can be rather prolific, breeding under rocks and driftwood. They hide under plant leaves to hitch a ride on passing snails. While it was disturbing to me, they never did any real harm and eventually disappeared. I wouldn't rip your beautiful tank apart over it. If you don't have snails they should run their course and die out.

Pulling up plants and/or agressively cleaning the subtrate is asking for an algae bloom. A mulm rich substrate is good, just be sure it stays there and not in the water column.

I use a python vacum to clean/water change my 55g once a week. I just poke around in between where ever it will fit keeping it close to the bottom without actually shoving it in the substrate. This light cleaning results in roughly a 20% water change.

Malaysian trumpet snails will do a good job of cleaning the subtrate and small ramshorn horn snails do an excellent job on bba. I have both and niether are host to leeches, nor overly prolific and keep my tank very clean. A lot easier than bleach dipping!


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Yea I currently have some leeches in my 10g tank. I think it is just about the most awesome thing ever!

I was playing with one and it kept trying to latch onto my finger, which I thought was the neatest thing ever.

I have heard they can live for years without food, so you might have them for a while... Too bad you aren't as happy about having them as me 

Does anyone know if they attach onto fish and shrimp?


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## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

Zapins said:


> ... Does anyone know if they attach onto fish and shrimp?


i'm sure they could if they manage to leap from the substrate or plants if they're quick enough


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Haha, I was thinking more along the lines of when fish sleep at nighttime the leeches could attach while the fish are resting at the bottom.


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