Planted tank and gravel problems

[flSwoop]

I have a new 50 gallon tank, I bought it off a friend. The gravel is a hefty 3 to 3 1/2 inches think. I know this can be unhealthy for the fish, as food can get caught in there and rot, causing water problems. I would love to remove a bunch of gravel and get it down to about 1/2 an inch or even slightly less.

The trouble I'm having is, I have a couple nice plants in my tank, and I'm not sure they will do very well if they don't have much gravel to dig down into. I want to have a heavily planted tank. What is a happy medium for plants, and a healthy amount of gravel that's not too hard to keep clean?

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

[Barbie]

The deep gravel should be no problem at all in a heavily planted tank, IMO. If it's something that really worries you, you can add some MTS or substrate burrowing fish to keep it turned over. 2-2.5 inches should be plenty for plants without risking anaerobic bacteria, also.

Barbie

[flSwoop]

So, having more plants will keep the gravel cleaner in a way? How?

Also, the trouble I'm having with lots of plants is, it's difficult to use a gravel vacuum without hitting the stems of plants and harming them.. Is there a good happy medium to choose as far as amount of gravel goes for a planted tank?

[CoolTcat]

If you are hitting the stems of the plants then you are probably disturbing the roots too, or preventing new roots getting established. Where you have roots you shouldn't need to vac as the roots are doing it for you by removing dissolved substances for the use of the plant.
I am a gardener at heart and tend to fill my tanks with plants and have never vaccuumed my (very thick) gravels (of very various diameters) and only filter in the evenings when my inverter is on for 240volt power.
Tropical temperatures may make a difference but I have never had any problems and for most of the summer the tanks are at tropical temperatures cos the room is anyway. I believe the plants are the reason why this setup is succesful. You need lots of the sorts with good root systems, not so much the bunch sorts that I think absorb a lot of their nutrient from the water.
I get my big plants started with a ball of "dinosaur dung" for fertilizer. Its a ball of NT mud, dried out, but once the fish and all are going I never need to fertilize again, just prune and give away plants! This remove excess nutrients from the system.
Jan