Switching Gravel in my tank

[Eel Boy]

I want to change the gravel in my tank, and i was wondering how you do it. I have lots of shrimp and diggers so i was wondering what the best way to do it. And is sand a good switch, if so will you give me some info on it had its pros and cons, because it think the fish will like it. Please help want to do this switch soon.

 

[cutecotton]

you'll porbably have to find a temporary tank for all your fishies, since removing the gravel would kill off most of your benefical bacteria, i don't know how you can switch it without having to empty the tnak. It would be near imposslbe to switch while your fish is still around since they'll probably get stressed out.

 

[Jen]

I will be doing the same thing in a few weeks.

I take the fish out and fill a smaller tank with their water. Then I empty out the rest of the water in the main tank - which you could probably skip, but you will have to watch the nitrate levels before you put your fish back in. Anyway. I would scoop out all the old gravel and put in the new sand. Let the water settle and add some cycle or bacteria or something. You'll need to top of the water so the filter will work and let it run for a few days. Test your water levels. I try to keep the water running for 2 weeks before the fish go back in.

Hope that helps

 

[Eel Boy]

I really dont have a place to move them. Is there anyway that i can do it without moving them. If i replace to gravel with sand really slowly would that work Since the bacteria would still be in there so what. And if i did it slowly enough then it would be okay. Please help. OR could i switch gravel, bit by bit. Just plain confused please help

 

[Eel Boy]

I would also guess that i would need a heater and filter for that other tank too right. And would i lose the bacteria in the other tank though anyways

 

[endparenthesis]

Maybe you could do it in sections. Say you had a piece of plastic or something you could shove into the gravel that fully divided the tank. You could scoop that little bit of gravel out and put the new stuff in. Then use a second piece of plastic a few days (or a week, I don't know) later to divide the next area. Once you've swapped the stuff in the second area, you could remove the first piece of plastic (it would just be dividing the same new gravel at this point) and use it to grab the third section. And so on. Could work *shrug*.

 

[Artuk]

Could you keep a portion of the old gravel in a nylong stocking or some such and leave it in the new tank for a while until the new gravel has a good bacteria poulation? It would be ugly.. but might make transition easier if it would work.

Regards,

Artuk

 

[spanair]

Why not buy a big plastic bucket?

I use one for my gravel changes etc..

I put all the fishes, shrimps etc in there with some plants the heater and the air stone. Then I have nothing to worry about working in the aquarium. As soon as you start to steer the gravel and the water it's going to get brown and soon you wont even be able to see trough the water, mines took overnight to settle down so I added the fishes in next day. But it's now all sand instead of gravel.

Good luck

 

[heresmike]

I replaced all my gravel at one time, and had no problems with my water tests showing any ammonia or nitrite after that. Most of the beneficial bacteria lives in your filter.... not the gravel. As long as your filter is working, you can switch it all at once. There is no need to switch it in sections or put some of the old gravel into a sock, etc.

And I did it all while the fish were still in there. I moved slowly, and they were fine with it and didn't get stressed out.

As far as replacing the gravel with sand and leaving the fish in there, I don't know what to say about that. I replaced the gravel with new gravel. I'd have to wonder if the sand would float around in the water too much and cause harm to the fish.

 

[Rusty_S]

I actually replaced my gravel with sand a couple of weeks ago, as long as you wash the sand thoroughly before you put it in the tank it shouldn't be a problem, I changed it over with all my fish still in the tank and they were fine with it, although I did net out a couple of the more delicate ones before I started. The sand should sink very quickly so it shouldn't harm your fish, if your fish are diggers they suck it into their mouths and blow it out of their gills anyway so there's nothing you can do to them with the sand that they can't do to themselves

It will take quite a while for the water to become completely clear but don't worry, it will clear overnight, if not after a few hours

 

[FishDan]

I did this with my two tanks recently. Each tank took about an hour, after the prep work (washing sand mostly). I removed water into a couple 5 galln buckets, put my fish in one, my decorations in another and soaked my filter media as well. Once my fish were in their temp home I removed the rest of the water from the tank and then the old gravel. I took the opportunity to get all the "gunk" that sat under the gravel out as well. In all about a 50-60% water change was accoplished at the same time. I then put my washed sand in the tank and added about 1/4 of the water, the decorations and then more water. My sand settled pretty quickly, but was a little cloudy for about 5 hours (one tank has Tahitiian Moon black sand, the other Home Depot play sand). I refilled the tank, moved the fish back in and cleaned up. I had no problems with any mini-cycle and the fish prefer the sand. I don't personally like the idea of working with fish in my tank while doing this, especially as I have many bottom dwellers that I don't want to risk hurting. I personally feel two nettings is less stress than near constant movement of my arms, decorations and a cup going in and out of the tank for an hour or more.

Good luck with your switch!!

\Dan

 

[Jen]

If you want to see how mine turned out, have a look here...
http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=43329