I currently have gravel in my tank, different shapes and sizes. But im starting to think that it is causing problems with my water as some of it is like 11 years old!! (maybe longer). I gravel clean once a week, but the tank is quite deep and sometimes i know im not getting all the mess up, especially in one of the corners. The fish seem fine, (touch wood) but i am noticing increased nitrates, no matter what i do to help lower them. (increased water changes, adding more live plants etc)
I am becoming more inclined to gradually remove all the gravel and just add some larger stones or something, which is fine. but my question is, will the Weather loches still be okay as they won't be able to bury themselves?? they will still have the internal filter and the various plants to hide under.

any input is appreciated.
Claire

My loaches were in a 55 gallon with large stones for about a year and were fat and healthy. I didnt even know that they burrowed until I moved them to another tank! I think as long as they have stuff to hide in they should be ok.

Thanks, so could it be the gravel harbouring some nasties or something? if i was to take out the gravel, i know not to take it all out at once, so how much and how often is good??

Hmm. The way I did it was take out 1/4 of the gravel a week. This way I didnt get too much cloudiness and also didnt wreck the cycle.

Thanks, ill have a think about it, i move back home in 2 weeks, so ill be able to keep my eye on things a lot more. Im going to look at some new stones tomo i think. ive been thinking about it for a while now, fancy a bit of a change. All my live plants are in baskets so ill be able to keep them. I have another plan in motion in the tank at the moment, I have found some 'things' at my lfs that connect together, (are really supposed to be UGF plates!) that i am going to put together to block off the corner with the pipes in to stop my fish getting stuck there, which could help to stop the corner getting blocked up with gunk. I hope this plan works, as putting plants there has failed!! Fish are so curious sometimes!