Glass beads for substrate?

[seangee]

Since you posted pics of dark substrate what I have in my signature tank is black limpopo sand, which is inert river sand. Just FWIW here is a pic I took last night 3 1/2 years after changing the substrate. I have never touched it aside from adding root tablets for the plants

 

[Coolysd]

Thanks so much for all of your responses. I have decided on the Imagitarium Black sand. I actually have 3 20lb bags on the way. Petco has them on sale right now buy 2 get 1 free. And since I am a "Vetco" customer I get an additional 20% discount. So I'm getting 60lbs for about $45. I'll probably need more than that for my 75gal, but it's a good start.

Now I just need to figure out how to swap it out with less stress as possible on my 5 Dojo Loaches.

 

[sharkweek178]

Thanks so much for all of your responses. I have decided on the Imagitarium Black sand. I actually have 3 20lb bags on the way. Petco has them on sale right now buy 2 get 1 free. And since I am a "Vetco" customer I get an additional 20% discount. So I'm getting 60lbs for about $45. I'll probably need more than that for my 75gal, but it's a good start.

Now I just need to figure out how to swap it out with less stress as possible on my 5 Dojo Loaches.

Good luck catching the loaches.

 

[seangee]

Thanks so much for all of your responses. I have decided on the Imagitarium Black sand. I actually have 3 20lb bags on the way. Petco has them on sale right now buy 2 get 1 free. And since I am a "Vetco" customer I get an additional 20% discount. So I'm getting 60lbs for about $45. I'll probably need more than that for my 75gal, but it's a good start.

Now I just need to figure out how to swap it out with less stress as possible on my 5 Dojo Loaches.

I actually did this without removing the fish. Several people advised me afterwards that it would have been better to remove them ... see here

Details of how I got the sand in without creating an awful mess are here (useful to know anyway if you ever need to top up the sand.)

 

[Coolysd]

I actually did this without removing the fish. Several people advised me afterwards that it would have been better to remove them ... see here

Details of how I got the sand in without creating an awful mess are here (useful to know anyway if you ever need to top up the sand.)

Thank you very much!! I have bookmarked the links. I wanted to start this today, however they delivered gravel instead of sand so now I have to wait till...?

 

[Byron]

I would suggest removing the fish to a temporary "tank" so you do not have the added stress on the fish. I have changed substrate many times, and it is always better I think to not feel rushed. There is less stress on the fish netting them into a temporary tank (filter and heater can be placed in this tank) where they can stay for the day, two or more days with no trouble, and then back again. Removing the substrate is a significant stress issue for fish. You will have to uproot plants, and remove decor, and this could easily uncover anaerobic zones and kill the fish. Another member had this occur, I would not risk it.

 

[Coolysd]

Okay so I have a 5gal tank that actually just finished a fishless cycle today using the directions from this site. Do you think I should put them in that or would a large bucket be better.

Also, super nervous that the 75gal will crash by removing the substrate. It just finished a very long (since Aug 8th ) fish-in cycle about 3 weeks ago.

Any tips or suggestions to calm my nerves would be greatly appreciated!!

Edit: Byron I just saw your post. Thanks!

 

[NearMeBettas]

I personally use Fluval Stratum. Black, hides waste, plants love it, and it's soft and easy on bottom feeders.

As long as the glass beads are smooth they should work BUT it's not the best for growing beneficial bacteria. You also can't have planted live plants and would have to stick with floaters or non-buried submerged plants.

 

[Coolysd]

I personally use Fluval Stratum. Black, hides waste, plants love it, and it's soft and easy on bottom feeders.

As long as the glass beads are smooth they should work BUT it's not the best for growing beneficial bacteria. You also can't have planted live plants and would have to stick with floaters or non-buried submerged plants.

Thanks much for your response! I've decided to try the Petco brand of black sand. It fit my budget better.

 

[Byron]

Okay so I have a 5gal tank that actually just finished a fishless cycle today using the directions from this site. Do you think I should put them in that or would a large bucket be better.

Also, super nervous that the 75gal will crash by removing the substrate. It just finished a very long (since Aug 8th ) fish-in cycle about 3 weeks ago.

Any tips or suggestions to calm my nerves would be greatly appreciated!!

Edit: Byron I just saw your post. Thanks!

I would use the 5g tank, asuming the loaches are not too large (yet) and will be OK. Make sure it has a cover, something as simple as a sheet of glass if no regular cover, fish like these will jump. Put the present filter in this tank, it can hang on the back. And the heater, but be careful as heaters set on "x" temp when moved to a small tank can sometimes overheat. [Assuming you have a heater, you may not with this fish.] Put some of the decor in this tank for cover.

Obviously the filter bed will be removed, but this is not an issue, I've done it many times. The filter can be returned (you can rinse it in tank water). If you have any floating plants, toss them in.

 

[Coolysd]

I would use the 5g tank, asuming the loaches are not too large (yet) and will be OK. Make sure it has a cover, something as simple as a sheet of glass if no regular cover, fish like these will jump. Put the present filter in this tank, it can hang on the back. And the heater, but be careful as heaters set on "x" temp when moved to a small tank can sometimes overheat. [Assuming you have a heater, you may not with this fish.] Put some of the decor in this tank for cover.

Obviously the filter bed will be removed, but this is not an issue, I've done it many times. The filter can be returned (you can rinse it in tank water). If you have any floating plants, toss them in.

Okay cool. The 5gal has a sponge filter and a heater. The hob is too big, however the 75g has 2 small sponge filters and 1 large.

My 2 larger Dojos will probably have about 3ish lengths in the 5g. But I think it will be better than putting them in a bucket. I'm so so nervous. I don't wanna lose my babies.

Here are a couple pics of the current setup.

 

[Byron]

Now that I have seen the photo, definitely remove the loaches before doing this; there is a lot of plants that have to come up, and hardscape to be removed, and the risk to the fish of disturbing all this is not worth it.

The filter from the large tank needs to be kept wet; place it in a bucket of tank water. I suppose you could turn it on to keep oxygen flowing through.

When you do this sort of change you do not want to be rushed. If the fish are reasonably comfortable in their temporary home you can do things right even if it takes another day. My 115g tank was a 2-day task, and the 100+ fish seemed very settled in the 29g temporary quarters.

 

[Coolysd]

Thanks so much! I actually put the 2 smallest one's in the 5g. Just wanted to see how they would respond. So far so good. The 3 others got a little spooked when I scooped the 2 out. Which was surprisingly easy, they swam right into the net. I'm thinking that I may want to put them in the 10g temporarily. The 3 are bigger and there're my og's, and I know the 10g would be more comfortable. It would also allow all of the filters to keep running.

Maaannn.... I've never done this before and it's giving me a little anxiety. I'm just going to take my time like you said. I'm excited see the results!!

 

[Coolysd]

Now that I have seen the photo, definitely remove the loaches before doing this; there is a lot of plants that have to come up, and hardscape to be removed, and the risk to the fish of disturbing all this is not worth it.

Hey! So I have been removing items from the tank a little at a time. We now have the 2 mountain pieces and the tall fake plants.
If I do it this way, do you think I would still need to remove the fish? I have 4 Dojos in there right now.
I've had some delays getting the 10gal set up and don't have an eta but I still want to redo the substrate.
Thanks for your help!!

 

[Byron]

Hey! So I have been removing items from the tank a little at a time. We now have the 2 mountain pieces and the tall fake plants.
If I do it this way, do you think I would still need to remove the fish? I have 4 Dojos in there right now.
I've had some delays getting the 10gal set up and don't have an eta but I still want to redo the substrate.
Thanks for your help!!

put all the fish in the temporary tank together, and then change the substrate in the main tank. What you are doing is causing more stress. Plus you are still running the risk of an anaerobic issue.