ayman.roshdy
Active Member
I am afraid I reset my tanks very frequent that I need to leave them for some time for the plants to grow and thrive, my last tank was reset after one month, actually I brought the whole scape down and started a completely new one, I know that I should not do this but it seems that with the first sign of a problem I decide to reset everything and start all over again (OCD) 
- Thread starter
- #3
I get the feeling of wanting to start over, especially when you know you made a mistake. However, problems are just part of the journey in building an ecosystem. In fact, they are not problems, just phases that often time are very normal. You should leave one and see how it goes.
GreggZ
Moderator
I've been doing something similar to Marian for years. Every so often I completely remove all plants and do a thorough substrate cleaning. For me it's about every 6 months or so.
While there is some short term pain, I have found once things bounce back the tank goes on autopilot for a good long time.
Substrate health is something that is underdiscussed and IMO makes a big difference.
GreggZ
Moderator
I use a python gravel vac and give it a really deep clean. I cut a couple of pieces of coarse filter foam and stick it up into the python to keep the substrate from being sucked up. It creates quite a mess and the tank takes a week or two to recover.
Sometimes I add more substrate. This last time I added two fresh bags of Landen. Whenever I add more I do water changes every three days and throw in an extra dose of PO4 in addition to the normal dosing for a few weeks.
The reason I do it is a while back I was having some issues with the tank. I keep very detailed records and can go back over time and see how the tank was doing with various levels of dosing, light, CO2, etc. They all were in a good range which to my mind left the substrate. The first time I did it you can't imagine the amount of gunk that was removed. Now it's a regular part of my tank maintenance. Once the tank stabilizes again there is a good long period where things seem easy and stable.
- Thread starter
- #7
I've never done this, intentionally at least. However, you can't argue with the success of those that are doing it routinely and on purpose.
Something in me wants to think that I should disturb the ecosystem present in the substrate. However, another part of my says that the detritus that builds up in the planted aquarium substrate doesn't get dealt with the way it does in nature. We need to manually clean it after a while (besides the top cleaning we do with water changes).
Something in me wants to think that I should disturb the ecosystem present in the substrate. However, another part of my says that the detritus that builds up in the planted aquarium substrate doesn't get dealt with the way it does in nature. We need to manually clean it after a while (besides the top cleaning we do with water changes).
Immortal1
Mad Scientist
Part of me is wondering if this is something I should try on my 75g tank. The EcoComplete substrate has been in there since I set up the tank in March of 2015. I do some pretty deep gravel vac every month or so on anywhere from 10-25% of the substrate.
So, the real question... would the overall health of the tank improve if I pulled all the plants and vac'd 100% of the substrate?
Would the tank be better off if I switched substrate (i.e. black blasting sand to Landen - @GreggZ )
I have a significant stock pile of Oase ScaperLine Aquarium soil - just not sure if I like planting in it yet.
BigWave
Active Member
I think the thing here is being able to distinguish between a scaped planted tank aka something you want to look at for many months vs having a planted tank and learning how they grow. i agree though, every 4-6 months its almost necessary to do a major cleaning.
GreggZ
Moderator
Funny thing Vin sent a message today that he had just done the same thing in one of his tanks. He was really pleased with the way the plants responded. He said "Every single time I’ve done it, all growth issues go away for a while". And he added it's been the same in any tank he has ever kept. Just saying there may be more than you know who have been doing this for a while.