Advice Changing From Sand To Gravel

[david419]

i have sand in my 180l tank but i am getting sick of it getting disturbed and floating about the water for hours on end so im thinking of changing back to gravel.

the problem is that i have quite a few fish in there at the mo and live plants,

my theory is that by going back to gravel its bigger and heavier than sand so wont float about like sand and make the water full of bits.

just need a bit of advice about the change as i dont want to have to re-cycle the tank or kill the fish.

ps. how much gravel to cover the bottom of a tank which is 48"x12"?

 

[rdd1952]

I've always had sand, either play sand or Tahitian Moon sand and never had a problem with it floating. That is generally a sign that it wasn't washed good enough to get the trash out of it. If you do decide to change it, you can eaasily syphon the sand out using your vacuum hose (minus the actual end). You may have to add a little water back to get it all but it's pretty easy. You could also take out part of it and leave the rest as a base and just put the gravel over top of it. Just keep the filter wet while you're doing it so that your bacteria don't start dying off.

 

[aaronnorth]

Here is a substrate calculator:

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/..._calculator.php

 

[backtotropical]

Unless you have particularly messy fish which are throwing the sand about, i'd stick with it.

It will sink and stay sunk. I think RDD is right that it probably wasn't washed properly.

In my opinion sand looks much better than gravel, its easier to vac, and the fish love it, especially if you have sand-sifters like corys.

I think adding gravel is an unnecessary expense and you'd be much better concentrating on getting your sand to stay at the bottom of the tank.

Cheers

BTT