Substrate Change

[Becca]

Ok. I really like the way my gravel looks (check out the picture attached), but I've been thinking of changing it a bit. I have 6 Cories that would likely benefit from a finer substrate - and I read about Sand. I just started thinking about this last night and not sure how feesible this is / isn't.

If I wanted to change out the existing substrate I have for something different - would I have to redo the entire cycle? If not, what steps would I take...just remove the old gravel, rinse the new and place in the tank? (Obviously remove the fishies to temporary housing while I'm digging around.)

 

[Becca]

Here's the picture: CLICK ME!!

 

[MAM]

many people have used a divider to slowly seciton off the tank and change out the substrate. this works, but if you have full tank fish wise, not real ideal. i changed out from black to natural, so i could easily see. anywho, what i did was each week, before a water change (so if any crude was strirred up, it would be taken care of by the water change), i'd start in one corner, scoop out the old gravel, put down some new. you might get away with doing half the tank one week, the old substrate willhelp to seed the new, and then do the other half in another week or two, but i'd recommend doing a only a quarter of the tank at a time, especially if your tank is newer. jsut my opinion though of course.
by not doing the whole tank at once, you save the beneficial bacteria in the gravel, so it won't disupt your tank and you won't have to recycle it.

 

[BIGMAC]

Sorry to go of topic here but i got to say i love your tank its wicked

 

[Becca]

Mam:
Thanks for the info. Still contemplating the change, not sure if I'm gonna go for it or not. But if I do it, I'll let ya know!

BigMac:
Thanks!! I'm not gonna change it now!!!

Seriously, I love the way it looks, I'm just contemplating moving to a finer substrate for the Cories benefit...though, they do seem to be just fine with the bigger gravel, they just can't dig into the gravel very well.

 

[clutterydrawer]

Hi becca! I might have said this before but i too like your tank, very nice work.

I am restocking my tank soon (had some losses... ) and I thought, seeing as Im planning to get panda cories they would be happier with a finer substrate than i had which was gravel the same size as yours. I swapped the top half of this gravel with really fine gravel, pea gravel i think it was called, in stages to save the bacteria. I couldn't face changing to sand cos I'd have to uproot all my live plants, also i read it can be more difficult to maintain (although i believe, as usual, there are many different views on this!).

I don't know if this was a good plan but i don't seem to have had any trouble so far. when i had cories before they'd only turn up a few stones from the surface, they didn't dig deep, so i figured it wasnt necessary to change every last piece of the old stuff.

 

[Teelie]

It can be a major pain in the ass but it depends on how you do it. I used a net to scoop my gravel out which made it much easier than trying to do it by hand or with a bucket or cup which will also fill with water.

 

[cecilbdemented]

How about mixing them? I dont know if it works/is feasible - id quite like to know as id like to change to mostly sand but avoid re-cycling and part changing isnt really practicle for me.

What if you (having emptyed the tank and cleaned the sand) removed say half or 2 thirds of the gravel then mixed in your sand. Wouldnt this help keep the bacteria as well as help prevent gas pockets forming, as the sand wouldnt get as compacted. Helpful for plants too?
Please correct me if im wrong (otherwise i may make a big mistake next week...)

all the best.phil

 

[Becca]

clutterydrawer - thanks for the compliments. I'll pass them onto my husband. The design is all his work - he's done an awesome job on the tank. Pictures, literally, don't do it justice. (Especially the not-so-good digital pics I have.)

As for the mixing - I was thinking of mixing some sand and the gravel. The cories do seem to do fine with whatever is on the top of the gravel, but obviously they can't dig very deep. Maybe I'll just keep the current setup as long as they keep doing ok and start a 5-10 gallon for my bedroom where I can experiment with sand/rock mixtures.

 

[Richard]

is it an undergravel filter you currently have in ur tank which your thinking of changing or internal/external filters?

Richard

 

[Becca]

Hey Richard,

Not thinking about changing my filter at all. I don't have an undergravel filter at all. It's just glass then gravel. And then I have an external Whisper Filter. I'm just thinking about changing the gravel.

 

[heresmike]

I just recently changed my gravel from an ugly beige color to fine natural gravel. I posted a poll on whether it should be done all at once, or in sections. The majority (but not by much) said "OK to do all at once". That was my vote too since the majority of the bacteria lives in the filter. So I did the change all at once, and I've had no problems since with ammonia or nitrite. Of course this would depend on how efficient your filter is.

I did not move the fish out of the tank, and they were just fine since I moved slowly. However, if you're adding sand, it might be a good idea to put them elsewhere during the switch so the sand can settle somewhat.

How much of a pain? ... Well the whole process of switching the gravel and adding all new plants took about 6 hours. I enjoyed it ... and I'm so happy with the way it looks now so I'd say it was a pleasure, not a pain!

 

[Becca]

Thanks Mike. That was exactly what I was looking for. As always - your wisdom and knowledge is much appreciated.

 

[Richard]

Hey Richard,

Not thinking about changing my filter at all. I don't have an undergravel filter at all. It's just glass then gravel. And then I have an external Whisper Filter. I'm just thinking about changing the gravel.

Was just wondering as you cant really use sand with an UG filter as its 2 fine.

As for changing over to sand with external filter its not really that bad depending on how you wish to go about doing it.

I`v changed several of my tanks over from gravel to sand what i found to be the best method was to store the fish in another tank then empty as much water as i could into buckets and containers so could put back in once finished.

then remove the gravel which the chances are will mess the last bit of water up quite a lot so once the gravel is out best to throw the last bit of water away.

Then once you have put your new sand in you could put all the water you saved back in the tank and just top the last bit up just like you would if doing a water change

Also it is an idea to remember if you are turning any type of filter off without water passing over the filter media the helpful bacteria will start to die off i think its around a few hours so it may also be an idea if possible to have the filter inlet and outlet running from a bucket just so its passing water over media keeping you bacteria alive n happy

It is good fun to do the change and your cory`s would love it

good luck with it if you do decide to go through with it

Richard