SUSHI!!!!!!!

"anaerobic dead spots which become deadly over a peiriod of time"

oh dear does this mean that the corner of my tank where all the dirty gravel has gathered and I planted a plant, thinking that it would grow in the muck and use it as fertiliser and create a nice little ecosystem, is actually just a poison factory? I hadn't been vacuuming near it incase it disturbed the root system.

And are the worms living in the muck therefore a bad sign, rather than a good one?

I think I have much to learn! :study:

its hard to say if its a poison factory, I guess in its rawest form it is but if its a fast growing plant it will be absorbing lots of the nutrients and the worms are helping too. The worms that you are seeing are most likely blackworms or similar and are good food for any chiclids if you have any.

I would however, try to vaccy up as much of the crud as i could if its in a breeding tank as it can cause issues. I would move the plant and leave the corner bare so its easy to vacuum

Hmm, not a very fast growing plant, everything seems to eat it as soon it it starts to sprout, so it's mostly stems

When I set up the tank I thought about lots of hiding places and interest, so it's full of big stones, bogwood, teracotta pots and a big moss ball, so there's very little of the floor I can actually get to for cleaning. Maybe I need to clear some of the bits and pieces out. :roll:

Take it out, thats what i do

hmm, maybe I need to be a bit more ruthless. I like to give everything the chance to survive, even if it's not looking the greatest. Hence the worm tank!

so is it not a good idea to use bare bottom for trying to breed?

use the search function to look for threads talking about bare bottom tanks and breeding. It has been discussed many times and quite well I might add, wouldnt do it justice to try and sum it up here

[quote]Exactly why I run through the entire thing with a chopstick everyweek, under logs and everything! Smile I use quite a thick bottom (about an 1" to 1 1/2"), hence why I chopstick so extensively. It's thicker as I have plants![/quote


That's what I do with a chopstick or skewer, been running for over two years n never lost a fish in that tank..although it sprung a leak last week and is out the back empty now ...

I have moved onto the plant substrate, Seachem Flourite Black, it's awesome...

This has turned into quite an interesting and informative thread, I didn't realise that nasties could build up in the gravel etc..



Luckily I give the bottom a fairly good going over when I do my weekly water change so hopefully there is not to much build up in my tanks.

I use gravel in both in my main tank I use gravel that is roughly about 5mm diameter and in my fry tank I use finer gravel that probably is only 2-3mm in size.

I know that from now on i will ensure i give the bottom a good "rummage" through with the vacumm when doing the changes from now on.



Cheers

Jon

i used to have bare bottomed tanks but was losing L066 fry to a bacterial build up which was coming from base of tank even with daily water changes & now have a sprinkle of sand along the base just enough to cover & have lost no fry since, As i keep alot of corys as well it has to be sand for me