substrate change

Hi there I have been having ammonia issues (0.25-0.5) in our established planted 150litre tropical tank for about a month now. There is 0.5 ammonia in our tap water. To deal with this we have started waterchanging with RO water, but this hasn't made much of a difference. Our nitrates are also...

Hi I have a small (64L) aquarium that has been established for 4 years. It has black sand as the substrate but it is quite thin - only about 1.5" deep. I would like to add some more so that plants can be rooted more deeply so I have bought some Caribsea sand. No rinsing is appealing! If I...

I'm changing my gravel substrate over to sand. I tried using a funnel, but the sand still ended up floating at the top, no better than before. My water also went cloudy, but that should go away in time. I scoop out the gravel with a net, then put it in a container to dump out later. I'm doing...

I have aquarium gravel, which I know isn't ideal, but I didn't think it could be problematic. Could it be the reason my cories are dying off? My water parameters check out fine, but I only have test strips. I'm getting a test kit later on today so then I'll know for sure if water quality is an...

Hi everyone, here’s the questions; 1. Is there anyway to move substrate from gravel to sand without moving any fishes? (Discus tank) 2. does play sand increase pH level? is this dangerous to discus and angel? 3. I always wanted to do Blackwater tank (inspired by @seangee post “back to black”)...

So I have recently started setting up my new 35G tank. The filter and cartridge are used, bacteria is still there. I bought a few fish, too. They are now in the bags they came with. I had forgotten to wash the substrate which was Flourite Dark Porous Clay and put it in the tank anyways. I have...

Hello everyone! Thanks for all your advice. I'm viewing a large 250-300L aquarium this weekend, and am planning to keep a mix of tropical fish in it. My goal is to have a well planted tank with several rocks and white sand, similar to how cichlid tanks often are, although with plants too...

So after reading LOTS of posts it looks like I should switch from aquarium gravel to sand to protect my pandas’ barbels. We have lots of new play sand that we have NOT used in our sandbox yet. How should I prep it for my tank? Just wash it with tap water? Or should I throw it in some aquarium...

Hello, I've only gotten into tropical fish keeping about 3 months ago since I took over the family aquarium. In the aquarium at the moment is grey gravel with the odd bright coloured rock, it looks disgusting. I was thinking of switching to sand so I could put live plants in and also for looks...

Hi, I just wanted some advice on the quickest and easiest way to change my substrate. I have a 95L tank with black gravel, due to me getting more cories I would like to put sand in.  Any suggestions as to what sand to use, colour, how much and of course how to change it with the least amount of...