Vacuuming Substrate During Water Changes

[Greg-Florida]

So I'm learning an awful lot here on the forum and grateful for the input.
Right now I'm gaining a solid foundation in the best practices for
Discus husbandry... so please excuse the multiple inquiries.
I do love to research and sometimes it yields more
questions than clear answers.

For you Discus-keepers who do frequent water changes and have substrate,
are you always vacuuming the substrate or do you sometimes
just draw and change water without vacuuming.
Maybe just vacuum every other change?

I read that disturbing the substrate and stirring up the bottom isn't always a
good thing for the fish who intake that. I get very little that stirs up though.
Thank you.

[dagray]

i always vacuum the substrate or at least part of it (maybe 1/2 per week) as uneaten food and fish waste gets trapped in the substrate which will cause an ammonia spike if not caught in time.

I know this is why for some with planted tanks they use potting soil only as the uneaten food won't penetrate the top layer of substrate as it would with gravel.

[mleibowi]

I have a sand substrate so a lot of debris is on top but it still gets into the substrate. I definitely vacuum it thoroughly once a week. My fish are adults but juvies do better in a bare bottom. The reason being you can get all the debris out more easily since you are doing daily water changes. Good luck!

[Iminit]

I vac the gravel every wc so twice a week. It’s amazing how much waste builds up in 3 days!