HOW TO: GravelVac and Clean Aquarium Carpets

Today I will run through how you gravel vac a aquarium with foreground plants and explain why #FISHFAM
My name is Johnny Johnson and here we upload aquarium and fish related content, all the way from setting up a aquarium, aquascaping, care guides for fish, and helpful videos and tips to help are aquariums better, more exiting and most importantly enjoyable. #FISHFAM
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[@f1fanatic80]

Intro music is waaay to loud.... blew my eardrums. Please adjust that for future vids if you haven’t already. Great vid otherwise!

[@jjaquariums]

This is a very old video this is a thing of the past lol, I havnt used a intro in 3 year's

[@jjaquariums]

@Tyler Fox its a re-upload I had another chsnnel and lost it so I reposted all my old videos again

[@mook3204]

Tyler Fox why you gotta be such a prick

[@spidermonkey304]

Thanks for the tip! I’m doing a carpet soon and was wondering about this.

[@jjaquariums]

👍

[@elliotlemimanila3050]

thanks man. this was useful. i just planted MC and was worried about this. cheers!

[@jjaquariums]

👍

[@dondrewnyc]

Outstanding video, very helpful. Fantastic tank.

[@jjaquariums]

Thanks Definitely check out the channel now,👍💙

[@abdulghafar1066]

Hi. Thanks for your video .do you need to clean the stone also or no need?

[@Ministrator03]

Great video, great tank.

[@jjaquariums]

Thanks

[@perthcichlids5663]

that carpet looks sweet :)

[@jjaquariums]

thanks

[@brainbuster4u744]

Can you grow Monte Carlo on top of gravel that has aquascape substrate underneath it? So, for example caribsea, fluval, or seachem planted substrate at the bottom then semi-thin later of gravel on top of it with Monte Carlo growing on top? I want to avoid the issue of vaccuming substrate out, and avoid having the Monte Carlo getting uprooted and pulled up by the vaccum.

[@jjaquariums]

Ya you can do that

[@medikazine2709]

Very nice carpet! Im having troubles growing HC cuba. Id like to try growing monte. How can i grow it like yours?

[@jjaquariums]

I dose tropica ferts, and excel, with good lighting and doing lots of wc

[@lucysu3875]

Hi, just wonder if I was to set up a tank with carpet isit better to just let the carpet form before putting fishes inside. So don’t have to vacuum the poop up on areas where there is no carpet? Thank you.

[@jjaquariums]

You can do that yes

[@mindicontreras9431]

I'm trying to use moss for my carpet but since I've planted it alot of dirt has built up on top ... When I try to vacuum it the moss gets sucked up do you think it would be ok to leave the dirt until the moss has established its self or will it kill it ...

[@jjaquariums]

Yes its fine

[@mr-mrsknow-it-all2998]

If the siphon is in sand or gravel you can push it all the way down and control the substrate. With a pinch to the tube it stops the flow and drops the gravel, release pinch to lift gravel again. pinch and release pinch fast and repeatedly it will roll the substrate like in a washing machine. you can see the water go clear when that spot is clean. Keep it in the same spot while doing this and the substrate will remain in it's original place without any mess entering the the rest of the aquarium. For my live planted aquarium with carpet plants i have a filter on the end of the siphon, just a plastic screw on thing with holes in it. It stops the pull on plants. However, one can be made with fabric or plastic with holes in. But because you can't push to far in on carpet plants, you can't lift as much dirt. For this reason i use a turkey baster to lift the dirt directly from under the substrate. Just simply push the turkey baster in until you can feel the glass bottom and draw the dirty water out.

[@jjaquariums]

Yup 👍 definitely check out the channel now

[@rainbowcupcakeish]

Thanks so much :) I just planted lots of dwarf hair grass and I was wondering how to clean it ... I think I’ll leave it to get the roots established before I start gravel vaccing.. don’t want to suck all the plants up 😂 Your tank looks great by the way !

[@jjaquariums]

thanks #FISHFAM

[@mr-mrsknow-it-all2998]

Turkey baster is great to use

[@charlierttr6166]

So do you siphon the bottom whenever you do a weekly water change or do you do this every 2 weeks?

[@jjaquariums]

Just depends on how it looks, but I always do it weekly

[@BossyCat_]

What type of plant around the stone? Do you use co2?

[@jjaquariums]

S.repens and no co2 the whole purpose of this series was to do no co2 bc people said i couldn't make such a lush planted aquarium without it, but this tank is no longer up was ran for 3 years hasn't been up since last year but definitely check out the channel got a new high tech series rn

[@Myk95]

What type of carpet plant is that? Im planning on trying it with my betta tank. And what kind of substrate/gravel is recommendable?

[@jjaquariums]

This is monte carlo, and if your trying to do a carpet a planting substrate is a must. ADA amaziona or topica soil is the best

[@azlambk1749]

By vaccuming the dirt from the aquarium does it vaccum the carpet seed plant 🌿 , please reply

[@jjaquariums]

Yes, you shouldn't even be vacuuming the soil unless your just sucking big items sitting on top, and carpet seeds are a scam they aren't true aquatic plants so they last usually a couple months and then die off

[@paris7977]

where did you get the siphon guard or how did you make it?

[@jjaquariums]

Came with it

[@AdriCr4ft]

Heya nice tank :) could I ask what you do to clean the soil where the plants are yet to grow? Do you just hover over the top? It’s a bit confusing for me seen as when you gravel vacuum you pick up nearly all the substrate to clean it underneath, so how does that work with soil? I had the same question with sand but you ended up answering it in this video!! Like for example if you have soil hills, how do you keep underneath clean? Isn’t that going to give you an ammonia problem in the future? I recently got interested in this and was thinking of trying it out but while video surfing I was left with those questions and I can’t seem to find an answer and leaves me not wanting to start because I’d be afraid in the future to hurt my fish. I have watched your video on Monte Carlo planet and now this one and I think I will subscribe. You explain really well. Thank you

[@jjaquariums]

Thanks yes you just hover over it but maybe a half inch or in and just get the debris off the top and same if you have a carpet like mine you can actually press against the plant and get after suck in between but that's only if you have a carpet going #FISHFAM

[@AdriCr4ft]

JJ Aquariums thank you a lot for your helpful reply 🙏

[@plecowhisper7059]

Hi good morning nice video

[@jjaquariums]

thanks

[@ericalynn5522]

Can snails and Cory catfish be kept in a tank with the plant carpet

[@jjaquariums]

Yes

[@edwardlea5020]

what if you have a gravel planted tank do you have to go deep into the gravel to vaccum it ? or can you just do a water change and leave the substrate so the plants can feed of the nutrients in the gravel ?

[@jjaquariums]

Ya you can just leave it but you can do what I did in the video and atleast clean the top layer by going over it, and not actually going into the gravel

[@edwardlea5020]

@@jjaquariums thank you for the quick response !

[@jjaquariums]

👍

[@cld841]

can i plant aquarium carpets if my substrate is aqua soil? will there be issues if i do that? or do i need to mix it with aquatic black sand? i am currently planning to setup my first tank and i am trying my best to have more knowledge. thanks!

[@jjaquariums]

Nope aqua soil is all you need

[@cld841]

@@jjaquariums thanksss!

[@titusjoyson]

Plantation looks cool, what’s the dimension of the tank ?

[@jjaquariums]

24in Iong 15 wide 13 tall

[@theindividual9689]

Hi what’s plant is your carpet made of?

[@jjaquariums]

Monte carlo

[@mook3204]

Will the lack of water kill my plants when i do a 50% water change from the gravel vac?

[@jjaquariums]

No

[@mook3204]

JJ Aquariums thank you 🙏🏽

[@Snakkes]

This is probably a stupid question but: is it possible to suck up fish or shrimp when siphoning while doing a water change? Great video!

[@jjaquariums]

No its not, yes you can suck fish ive done it before but if your siphon has a guard on it your fine

[@Mr.ReanuKeeves]

I've never tried carpeting but do you think plecos or any other cleaner crew be okay with carpeting?

[@jjaquariums]

If you let it grow in first yes but at first plecos will tear it up

[@Mr.ReanuKeeves]

@@jjaquariums Ahh, okay thank you! I'd like to try it in another small aquarium. I feel like my puffers will like the carpet but my pleco is about 4' big. Perhaps I'll do that in another project. Thanks again!

[@jiteshsiddhuvlog]

what are those brown fishes?

[@jjaquariums]

Either the silver tip tetras or the otocinclus

[@t32bolt40]

is it even possible to grow carpet on full gravel base of 4-5 inches without anything else like substrate.

[@jjaquariums]

Not without a nutrient substrate

[@MrPequenio]

You got nice setup there, may I know what is the name of your carpet plant please

[@jjaquariums]

Monte carlo

[@theboganteen8899]

What carpet plant is that

[@PhoenixGirlOfficial]

What light are you using for your aquarium?

[@jjaquariums]

Finnex planted plus SE

[@albertisreal8786]

Hi i want to know wht plant do u use dor your carpeting?

[@jjaquariums]

Monte carlo

[@albertisreal8786]

Thank you!now ima order and make a planted tank bc that was the last thing i needed

[@vahidakhavi1509]

Do u use a carbon filter?

[@jjaquariums]

No

[@johnuehara4498]

Love the tank! What’s the temperature set at? Keep up the content.

[@jjaquariums]

I try for 78 but usually its around 80 and yah check out the channel tons and tons of videos on this tank

[@jjaquariums]

@@chitrarasubalakrishnan1408 depends on how much you wanna spend mine is a ADA tank which is the best you can get

[@justaguywithabadyoutubenam512]

What plants did you use for your carpet

[@jjaquariums]

Monte carlo

[@kimberlystarks9156]

what type of plants are planted here?

[@jjaquariums]

Bacopa, monte carlo, Java fern narrow, anbuis petite, S.Rens

[@MrDantastic423]

Will this carpet work on gravel?

[@jjaquariums]

If supplied with nutrients, bc it needs a nutrient substrate so for gravel you would have to put root tabs in and it would need to be a finer gravel to

[@alfu3576]

Can we put sucker catfish with carpet plants?

[@jjaquariums]

Yup

[@loluzivert1103]

What if it’s a sand substrate because you also have to stir up the sand cuz of the the air bubbles

[@jjaquariums]

You can't grow carpets in sand so that wouldn't be a problem anyway

[@loluzivert1103]

@@jjaquariums you can grow dwarf hair grass tho

[@jjaquariums]

In a planted aquarium if we do have any sand at all in it, we try and go as thin as possible bc of that and you'll never have issues the deepest you should ever keep sand is about half a inch and you'll never have to worry about stiring

[@loluzivert1103]

@@jjaquariums and also can I use liquid fertiliser instead of root tabs because I did my research wrong

[@jjaquariums]

@@loluzivert1103 plants need both nutrients from there roots and through leaves, so of your substrate doesn't have nutrients then yes add root tabs and you'll still need to dose some type of fert

[@splintershard3677]

What vac are u using?

[@jjaquariums]

That one was just some cheap imaginarium gravel vac

[@Crystal_Mantis0_0]

What kind of siphon is this? I want to buy

[@jjaquariums]

Python is the brand

[@Crystal_Mantis0_0]

So is it called “Python siphon”?

[@jjaquariums]

@@Crystal_Mantis0_0 yes

[@Aidan34671]

What are the fish called in this tank pls name them all I like them

[@jjaquariums]

Otos, black neons

[@Aidan34671]

@@jjaquariums how do u get the grass to grow cause I read that u need co2 for the grass bedding

[@jjaquariums]

@@Aidan34671 I did no co2 on this tank it just takes 10x as long to carpet and a lot of patience took a year to carpet that 20 gallons unlike co2 which would've took 2 months max

[@Aidan34671]

@@jjaquariums oh wow ok well I will have to look into co2 if I want my carpeted

[@thegamesource]

what kind of aquarium carpet plant is this?

[@jjaquariums]

Monte carlo

[@thegamesource]

@@jjaquariums are they easy to grow with co2?

[@jjaquariums]

@@thegamesource sure are

[@thegamesource]

@@jjaquariums thanks, I want to get into CO2 in a couple months and looking for a good carpet plant for my 5 foot long tropical community tank. I subscribed to you. Hope you start doing more uploads.

[@sadiesstuff4270]

I think that ground cover is soo cool, but I was wondering how to clean it. 🤔 thanks!

[@jjaquariums]

👍

[@celtics4lifex10]

What kind of fish do you have man?

[@jjaquariums]

Cherry barbs, glowlight tetras, Priscilla tetra, otocinclus, ramshorn snails, its random at the moment until I tear down this tank and re do it

[@maxcheers9394]

Lifespan of this carpet plant?

[@jjaquariums]

Theyll live as long as you want them to, as long as there substrate is kept fertilized and there getting what they need. You keep trimming and they'll stay growing

[@echtwaarhe6417]

I really have a full planted tank and it’s nearly impossible to clean like this.. 1.50m by 50cm by 60cm, 450Liter.. I bought a waterpump , quite powerful and it’s aiming from the bottom blowing towards to filter

[@jjaquariums]

Whatever works

[@StarD435]

Noisy intro

[@jjaquariums]

Old video sorry

[@notkerrystolcenberg]

But isnt the fish waste feeding the plants? If you have enough beneficial bacteria breaking down the waste, then shouldnt you leave it? Because then you wouldnt have ammonia problems, especially with a carpet.. Let the ecosystem do its thing?

[@jjaquariums]

Your right but when you have excessive waste that triggers ammonia, but thats why we have planted substrates and ferts that feed the plants, so taking away the waste is helping more than anything, when it comes to aquariums especially high tech ones you can't really "let nature do its thing" bc it would turn into a mess, aquariums are smaller then lakes and rivers things dont get affected that much in that much volume of water but a aquarium is so small that we need to remove all the extra waste and other harmful elements in the water

[@aguilao28]

No. I don't know.

[@satguy]

Watch this video as to why you don't want to carpet the bottom of your tank. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGavY2qlhdimfqc

[@jjaquariums]

That video is useless. Love Kevin but a carpet does no harm to a aquarium, he's talks about waste, easy fix is nerites and shrimp which 99% of people have in planted tanks

[@satguy]

@@jjaquariums I just lost every fish in my tank because I had a beautiful carpeted bottom and it took just 12 hours. They are a ticking time-bomb I didn't understand and nobody talks about that caught up with me. Researching how this could happen I found that video that explained how and why it happens. When I pulled the carpet I was shocked what I found. Now I am rebuilding my tank from scratch, and it will not have a carpet.

[@jjaquariums]

I've been doing carpets for more than 10 years and never had a issue, the key is to keep it gravel vacced and trimmed low

[@satguy]

@@jjaquariums By the way I only use nerites snails and bottom feeders. I'm no amateur I've been doing this for 50 years. But this is the first and last time I did a carpeted bottom.

[@jjaquariums]

If that's your choice everyone does this hobby different

[@kesharadesilva]

U-SZHE (usually)

[@shouryakumar5893]

It's artificial or what

[@shouryakumar5893]

Tell fast please

[@jjaquariums]

@@shouryakumar5893 all real

[@King_of_the_Beasts_MMA_News]

Ok, do yourself and your viewers a favor. Write out what you want to say then say it. Stumbling through your presentation only turns people off

[@jjaquariums]

This was 8 years ago sorry

[@King_of_the_Beasts_MMA_News]

@@jjaquariums 8 years ago? Then why does it show posted 1 year ago? If this is really 8 years ago then maybe you should pull this one down and do a new one

[@jjaquariums]

@@King_of_the_Beasts_MMA_News yup my original channel, lost it so had to re-upload a lot of old videos. I don't take down old videos bc its to show how I started I'm not afraid to show the world how I started

[@King_of_the_Beasts_MMA_News]

@@jjaquariums I'll give you that.

[@ihavecojones]

yea... we know :))