Hit Me Whilst I'm Down

[R33RDN]

Right guys,

I am new to aquariums and have no clue all i know is they look nice.

I am not on here to offend just after a simple answer to my question.

My aquarium in 2-3 months old now and i stupidly used sand as a base my question is

Can i change the bottom to gravel now the tank is filled and stocked and if so, How do i go about it ?

My idea was to just scoop out a bucket of water and put the fish into the bucket whilst i pour out the sand then use some new fresh water to half fill the tank before pouring the bucket back into the tank.



Am i Retarded in thinking this


Thanks in advance

Karl

 

[JHR]

Hey buddy welcome to the forum.

What's your issue with sand? Has it made your water cloudy?

 

[fluttermoth]

Most people who have sand prefer it to gravel, and it's better for most kinds of fish.

It also might be easier to solve your problem with the sand than have to strip the tank down and replace it; it's a big job, however you go about it!

 

[seeley82]

I changed from gravel to sand a few months ago now and its the best thing I have ever done, my fish seem to love it and are much happier, they love digging it up

 

[Chad]

I have to agree, I like sand as a substrate. Can you explain a bit more what's wrong with it?
To answer your question though the answer is yes, you can remove it and replace it with gravel if you like. Depending on the size of the tank I recommend doing it a little at a time as not to stress the fish, pollute the water, or get rid of too much of the bacteria that inhabits it.

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm going to disagree with you here, Chad! (sorry!)

I've changed substrates fish in, and it really is a nightmare. You're far better off draining out as much water as you can, catching the fish and changing the substrate, old water back in, fish back in and top up with fresh.

There won't be a significant amount of bacteria in a sand substrate; not in a freshwater tank.

 

[msasa19]

i like sand, its much easier to clean!

 

[Chad]

I'm going to disagree with you here, Chad! (sorry!)

I've changed substrates fish in, and it really is a nightmare. You're far better off draining out as much water as you can, catching the fish and changing the substrate, old water back in, fish back in and top up with fresh.

There won't be a significant amount of bacteria in a sand substrate; not in a freshwater tank.

No need to say sorry.

There are many different husbandry methods that do work even though they are different. Here's my perspective on this.

I think the idea is the same between fresh and salt. There really isn't anything that I can think of that would make the bacteria different in one environment than the other. Admittedly most of the research in this area seems to have been done with marine tanks but I can't really see how the results would be unique to them.

It seems that surface area and food source would be the limiting factors for bacteria in this case. As gravel has plenty of surface area and has decaying matter for food what would really keep it from being a key component of the tank's biological filtration?

I know ADA substrates are specifically designed with this in mind as is the Fluval Stratum I have in my 6 gallon tank.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Yeah, I'd fill a big storage bin or container, run your filter in there with fish and devote a day to making the change. I did that myself as I decided sand wasn't for me either. I used a syphon to suck the sand into a buck and kept refilling the tank and sucking more until it was gone. The just added washed gravel and rearranged then refilled, put the filter back in and ready for fish right away. Took me about 2 hours.

 

[MBOU]

Personally, I am much happier with a finer grade gravel than sand any day! I have too much of an OCD to have sand, cant stand the sight of plant matter, fish waste, food, bits of bog wood etc sitting on the sand... would have to water change every day >.<

Sand is easy to get out without removing fish!! Get a piece of clear/green pipe, sensible length that you can manouver it and not such soft pipe that it kinks over top edge of glass and about 16/22mm...

Pipe in tank... suck on pipe to start siphon going... suck sand out of tank.... top uptank with old water (sand sinks in bucket!) and some clean water!

 

[KCB]

If you really don't like the sand you can use a siphon (gravel vac) to suck the sand out with minimal stress. Putting gravel back in would be a bit trickier but you can scoop it using your hand/cup or something and gently place it at the bottom of the tank.

I would stick with the sand though, I changed from gravel to sand and would never go back