How do I clean the particles from the bottom of the tank?

by Kathleen
(Caldwell, NJ, USA)

I have an XP2 in my 29 gallon turtle tank. I noticed that small particles and turtle waste fall to the bottom, on top of the gravel. The filter does not have a strong enough suction to pull the particles in, so they just rest on the gravel and don't move.
How do I get all of the particles removed, or even get better water flow to stir the particles? I read somewhere that an additional undergravel filter may be a good idea, but I am not sure if this is true and if so, how to use it with the XP2. Thank you for your help with this!

A: There are three things I would suggest. One, I would use a pond bacterial product to break down the solid particles. The one we recommend is PondZyme Plus. Even a 1/4 teaspoon weekly will help with this. You could also use an aquarium bacterial product such as StressZyme. For cleaning the simplest system to use is an aquarium gravel cleaner. We recommend the Rena Deluxe version since it is easy to start up and use. You should change 5-10% of your water weekly and this is an easy way to do this. Clean the gravel while you remove the water you are going to replace.

The downside to this system is that reptile environments don't have a lot a water to siphon and change. So, an undergravel filter system is also a good way to go. The Rena system is unique in that the plates lock together and can be formed to whatever shape you like. They are extremely strong so that even rocks can be laid on top without damage. Used in combination with the bacterial
products you have a good chance to breakdown the solid wastes and you may not need to vacuum the gravel at all. Any system you try will require a certain amount of trial and error for the best combination of techniques since each setup is unique.