Gravel To Sand!

[Koustoubi1993]

Hey pplz!!
I got home after school and decided to change my tank from gravel to sand. I took my fish out and put them into a smaller tank just with the heater. i washed the sand that i had until it ran clear. After i put it into the tank and filled it the water went all murkey and cloudy. 3 questions.
1. How long untill the water clears? i have 2 filters in the tank to make progress faster.
2. How long can i keep the fish in the small tank just with a heater and no filter??
3. Any advice.

 

[fatheadminnow]

It should clear up in a couple hours, enough to the point where you can add fish.

It will take a couple days though for it to clear 100%.

I would not keep the fish in there too long, as the ammonia level might rise quit fast. Do you have a test kit where you could test for ammonia?

-FHM

 

[Koustoubi1993]

Hello .
Yes i do have a test kit. I think i might try and find my small filter and put that in the small tank with the fish. Would that be ok? And does it matter that i have the big water heater in my small tank? lol.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Hello .
Yes i do have a test kit. I think i might try and find my small filter and put that in the small tank with the fish. Would that be ok? And does it matter that i have the big water heater in my small tank? lol.

A small filter would be a good idea.

The thing with a larger heater in a small tank, is it runs a potential of over-heating the tank. When a heater is switched on, it does not just come on at say 80F, but instead is comes on hotter than that. This results in the water heating up a bit faster to the 80F mark. But, when the heater switches off, when the desired temp is reached, the heater is still hot and must cool down. This cooling down stage is what could over heat your tank, since the tank is smaller for that heater, the water would heat up rather quickly.

Just keep a close eye on the temp inside the smaller temporary tank.

-FHM