Gravel

[Toploadertom]

Would it be safe to change the gravel in my tank? The gravel in there at the moment is very dark coloured & I fany getting some lighter stuff. Would this affect the fish in any way?

 

[rdd1952]

You can change it without much problems. It's actually harder to get the gravel out than to put the new gravel in. Just make sure you rinse the new gravel good so you don't get cloudy water. The only potential for problems is if you have an undergravel filter. In that case, you would be removing a vast majority of your beneficial bacteria which would cause the tank to cycle again.

Once you have finished with the change, turn the lights out so the fish can settle down as they will be somewhat stressed with all the stuff you are doing in the tank..

 

[Aleydis]

Well has the gravel been there for a long time? Though I'm no expert, I'm worrying about a few things:

-Changing the gravel may harm the biological bacteria cycle. At least that's what I was told.
-Overly bright or Flamboyant colors may stress out your fish... How would you like to stare at a shiny, hotpink surface for days on end?

The best of luck with your aquarium!

 

[rdd1952]

Unless the filter is a UGF, there is only a minute amount of bacteria in the gravel. Most is in/on the filter/media. I agree about the bright gravel. Most bottom dwellers do prefer a darker substrate rather than something like white sand or gravel.

 

[Toploadertom]

Thanks for the advice guys. I was thinking of maybe a creamy/grey colour. I dont have an under gravel filter so that wont be a problem. I may leave it now though. Dont want to upset my plec with a light colour!

Although I do like the idea of replacing the gravel with sand.

 

[Hallett]

Sorry to hijack the post here but I was thinking I might change from gravel to a sand substrate or something. I suppose with that I'd have to remove the fish and the water from the dank otherwise the sand just wouldn't settle?

 

[rdd1952]

It really depends on the type sand you use. Regular play sand is extremely hard to get clean enough to not cloud the water. If you put it in properly, it can be done though. If you go with a more expensive sand such as the black Tahitian Moon Sand, it is almost dust-free from the start (still needs to be rinsed though) and settles almost immediately. You could most likely change it with the fish and water in the tank without any problems.

 

[OldMan47]

Another thing to consider is how the fish will look after the change. Some fish are affected by the colors around them and will darken or lighten somewhat to match the bottom color. My own preference is for a natural colored coarse sand / fine gravel but to each his own.

 

[Hallett]

So your saying I could change it to sand or something similar without any major problems. I thought if you added and in it would just seperate cloud the water rather than settle on the bottom

 

[rdd1952]

Hallett, it really depends on the sand you use. Play sand, which is the cheapest you can get, is full of fine dust and durt. it willdefinitely cloud the water unless you can somehow you get it washd clean but that is very difficult. Other more expensive sand such as the Tahitian Moon Sand that I use, has almost no dust in it and will settle immediately other than some stuff that may float and can be skimmed off (there won't be much of it) I have never had cloudy water with it.

 

[Alverez]

are you changing the gravel because you dont like the look of the one you have ?

how long have you had the current gravel in the tank ?

by the time you have some plants established you wont see more that 30 % of the gravel anyway ...


i wouldnt bother myself unless it was benificial to the well being of the tank/plants/fish

and i wouldnt have sand , but thats just me........

 

[Hallett]

Well the gravel I have at the moment is is blue and green. Very cheap stuff and the greens fading away and the gravel just looks plastic and unsightly. I have to catfish which I know prefer a sandy substrate or something similar. Plus it would give the tank a more natural look. I do have a substrate under neath the blue and green gravel made from clay or something similar that I was told helpsm support plant growth and it looks quite nice. It was quite dirty when I originally washed it though so not sure if I could put any of that in.

 

[StormySkiez]

I have changed the gravel in my 10g tank. Beware it could start a mini cycle. It did in my tank. A couple of WC's and all was good. So test your water parameters the next day . Also I recommend taking the fish out as you will be stirring up a lot of crud in the gravel into the tank water. This is something I never want to do again. It is much harder getting the gravel out after the tank is set up. The work was worth it for me as I had mixed blue and white gravel that looked horrid after 4 months due to the white turning an ugly algae color.

 

[redevilman]

I have changed the gravel in my tank to argos play sand £2.49 for a 15kg bag and i washed a quarter of a bucket at a time for about 15minutes i only needed half a bag and it settled very quickly but im doing a fishless cycle so you may want to take your fish out

 

[Hallett]

Ok i've started removing my current gravel and well..It makes loads of crap float around in the water and its really hard to scoop it out. Going to take ages even then at a certain point there wont be enough gravel in their to scoop so I'll have to pick it out by hand..This is going to be a big job.