cleaning out entire tank

[mudsurgeon]

Is it safe to remove my fish to fully empty my 20 gal tank to clean the gravel because i find that the gravel is super dirty.

[Goes to 11!]

The answer to this depend entirely on where you intend to put them? Also what's up with your gravel?

[Lady Hobbs]

All you do is vac the gravel with your gravel vac. You don't remove fish to do that.

[Goes to 11!]

All you do is vac the gravel with your gravel vac. You don't remove fish to do that.

And you should be doing it regularly btw.

[Cermet]

In answer to your question, yes as long as you 1) use tank water so the pH is the same 2) Have a heater so the temp does not fall (its winter and rooms tend to be colder) 3) an airstone to make sure they get enough oxygen. Then that should be fine. I do it all the time with discus when I need to do major cleans (twice a year) on the tank.

[mudsurgeon]

I have had this tank running for 2 years and i have never cleaned out the whole tank . When i vacuum the gravel there is alot of stuff floating in the water when I'm done

[daimen123]

I think the important thing is to keep you filters wet when doing it. I have never done it because I have plants but why not just remove your decorations and give it a good vac?

[Lady Hobbs]

If you use plant substrate and have the tank planted, you don't clean the substrate. The waste turns into fertilizer. But if you just have gravel and never clean it, it turns into nitrates that are too high just like a dirty filter will do. Cleaning the substrate is just normal tank maintence.

[bethyMT]

You could take your fish out and put them in a bucket, but probably your best bet is to do smaller frequent gravel vacs, moving your decorations around and cleaning beneath them. 2-3x a week, about a 10% water change or so per time, would be best (less shocking to the fish).

I have been in your situation, but unfortunately that's because I wasn't vacuuming enough (nor changing water frequently enough). If you do you little vacs, eventually you'll get all the crud out. THis will be more effective than a big vacuum because all the junk in the water settles out. Do you have a water testing kit? You should probably check your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. A lot of dirty gravel, as LH said, might mean a lot of nitrates, which will hurt your fish eventually. It sounds like you might need to clean the tank a bit more often. Once a week is good, twice a week is also good, with a thorough gravel cleaning each time, since your tank is established. There is lots of good information here about keeping your tank in order...hope it helps you.