Sand and New Tank ?

[oneponygirl]

Hi all, I am upgrading my five gallon tank to a ten gallon (which I just bought) and am switching to sand instead of gravel. I filled the new ten gallon about a third full with water and have put in some of the gravel from my existing tank (and AquaSafe), tomorrow I am getting the sand and will put the appropriate amount in the tank. Once that is done I am getting some live plants, wood and other decorations and will put those in. Once all that is done is it safe to simply take all the water from my established five gallon to make up the difference in water on the new tank? (I have three neon tetras and a dwarf gourami that will be moving into the new tank with the water.) If that's not safe, what should I do instead?

Also, something that I read said that you should wait a few days after adding sand and before adding plants and decor. Why is this and is it really necessary?

p.s. I don't know what my water levels are but I hope to get a test kit soon so that I can test at home.

 

[WILDER]

I wouldn't put the gravel in the tank, as when it comes to vacuming the sand the gravel might just mix in with the sand, you could put some gravel in a pair of tight in your filter so you don't lose the beneifical bacteria, yes you can add the water from the 5gal tank to the 10gal, as long as there has been no desease in the tank.

 

[oneponygirl]

I actually have the gravel in a flow through bag in the new tank so that I can just pluck it out when I'm ready to put the sand in. I just thought that perhaps putting some of the "messy" gravel in the new tank would help to start it out.

The five gallon tank is healthy. Thanks for the response!