Adding sand

[swimmy103]

how could i change my gravel to sand while i still have fish?

 

[drobbins27]

Very carefull id say

Why not just take the fish out and put them in bowls for a couple hours? The sand will need time to settle also in most cases

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I wouldn't, but not for any articualr reason. Just because it'll get very cloudy and I'd want to be sure not to hurt any of them.

I'm going to be changing my 2 gravel tanks to sand soon, I plan on putting the fish in bucket(s) until I am done.

 

[Captain Canuck]

how could i change my gravel to sand while i still have fish?

Having recently attempted this, I would recommend bags, buckets or bowls for your fish while doing this procedure. I started to change the gravel in half of the tank, with a divider in place to keep the fish still in the other half, but realized it was going to be more trouble than it was worth. In the end I had to bag the fish and float them in my other tank for an hour or so.

Another pointer that I can't stress enough: Wash your sand well!!
My sand only took an hour to settle, but I think drobbins27 has posted some photos of his tank where the water became really cloudy from sand.

 

[swimmy103]

how long would my fish be ok in a bucket or bowl without heat or a filter?

 

[marks69]

they should be ok for a couple of hours in a bucket.when i did my 55 i didn't wash the sand really well, and i had my fish in a bucket with an airstone, and covered it in tinfoil so no-one could jump out, and the cats couldn't get in.i looked over from my comp and there's a guppy on the floor.put him back and about 15 min later there was another.so i ended up sticking them in the tank with alot of dust.
everything turned out well, nobody died, but next time i'm gonna try eco-complete, or wash the sand outside with a hose.
gl
mark

 

[jams.alaskan]

I just set up the 38 gallon with 3 bags of the eco-complete - no cloudyness, none! Awesome!

ALASKA

 

[x-router]

If you wash your sand first you won't get any cloudyness. Also make sure your filter is off or most of the sand will be sucked up into your filter and that would be quite bad

I would advise keeping your fish in a container for a while. I use a cool box to put mine in. It tends to keep the water temp longer. If needs be put your heater in there with them. If you have a external filter you can also move that into the cool box and they will be quite happy for days.

Moving fish stresses them tho (as will dumping a load of sand into your tank). I lost a healthy pleco after doing a tank change. After the move he just faded away, stress I guess

 

[Dave]

Im doing this at the moment. My suggestion would be, instead of taking the fish out of the tank just leave them in.

You can change the substrate in sections by using dividers, and do say a 25% substrate change every 3-4 days. Your water needn't go extremely cloudy if you do it carefully.

Heres what to do. Syphon the all gravel in the section you wish to replace. This will remove most of the poo Once your happy that its clean scoop out the old (Cleaned) gravel (I used a dustpan). Now wash enough sand for the gap. Do his really well! to prevent cloudyness. Insert your divider next to the old gravel and carefully scoop the new sand in. Job Done!. With minimal clouds. Oh and top tank up with clean/treated water.

This what Im doing and the fish don't seem to mind, just nosy

 

[Alien_spawn]

Im doing this at the moment. My suggestion would be, instead of taking the fish out of the tank just leave them in.

You can change the substrate in sections by using dividers, and do say a 25% substrate change every 3-4 days. Your water needn't go extremely cloudy if you do it carefully.

Heres what to do. Syphon the all gravel in the section you wish to replace. This will remove most of the poo Once your happy that its clean scoop out the old (Cleaned) gravel (I used a dustpan). Now wash enough sand for the gap. Do his really well! to prevent cloudyness. Insert your divider next to the old gravel and carefully scoop the new sand in. Job Done!. With minimal clouds. Oh and top tank up with clean/treated water.

This what Im doing and the fish don't seem to mind, just nosy

That is pretty much how i've changed from gravel to sand before in the past