When we vac the gravel i know is best to clean as much of it as possible, but what about those spots u cant reach? like under some decorations? Like im sure there are people with big huge peaces of bog-wood/driftwood in their tanks that they just can't move all the time to clean under...my question is, does it harm the water chemistry to leave those spots uncleaned? or do we really have to clean them someday?

nope, it wouldn't matter at all if you did not clean some portion
as long as the majority part had been vacuumed. there are times some
people use a stick just the stir the dead spot... allowing the tank
to become cloudy for while.... and clean the reachable area afterward.

Just keep an eye on your water conditions, this will tell you if you have to up your tank maintenance. You normally start running into serious problems when your filter becomes absolutely clogged up with crap. I can certainly appreciate the fact that it's difficult to get to all parts of the aquarium in a reasonable time. I have got two massive pieces of wood and lifting these out is not an easy job.

i do move my decor from time to time just to clean under. you guys will be surprised at how much poo can hide under there.

i like to move my decor around anyway to mix my fish up abit in regards to finding new territories so i just vac under it then.

altho i was thinkin same as u as im tryin 2 get O's to breed so not moved there stuff around in a while so i assume its building up. but keeping an eye on water as ofl said so should be all good

marcus wrote:


x2!

Its always a good idea to move the decor to clean underneath them at least once in a while. When i had my discus tank running (sand substrate) i used to find loads of poo under the decor after a week