Changing gravel to sand

[xxamyxx85]

Hi all,
I would really like to change substrate from gravel to sand, can I do this without removing my Betta? He gets very stressed about being moved and has an injury at the moment, he doesn’t mind me poking around in the tank though.

if I can’t change it that way, could I put the sand over the gravel? there is about 1 cm of gravel at the front and about one inch at the back on one side, the other side does have a hill but I wouldn’t mind if the gravel hill came up through the sand. I was going to add some rooted plants so I could have the sand higher than the gravel if it falls through.

 

[Essjay]

If you put sand over gravel, you'll end up with gravel over sand I'm afraid.

The fish should be removed from the tank. Removing gravel will probably create a large amount of muck in the water and you'll need to throw that away before putting the sand in. Transferring the betta to another container with most of his tank water means you'll keep him safe from any contamination pulled out of the gravel.

 

[xxamyxx85]

I thought that was going to be the answer what if I vacuum the gravel out?

 

[Essjay]

If the gravel is small enough to fit down the siphon tube, this is possible. But you'd need to be very careful not to disturb what's in the gravel - and to make sure the gravel does not cause a blockage in the tubing if it gets sucked up too fast (had that happen by accident when I had gravel and was just cleaning the tank) We had a member not so long ago who had fish die as a result of removing the gravel while the fish were still in the tank.

 

[xxamyxx85]

If the gravel is small enough to fit down the siphon tube, this is possible. But you'd need to be very careful not to disturb what's in the gravel - and to make sure the gravel does not cause a blockage in the tubing if it gets sucked up too fast (had that happen by accident when I had gravel and was just cleaning the tank) We had a member not so long ago who had fish die as a result of removing the gravel while the fish were still in the tank.

Okay, I think I’ll remove him, thank you for the advice. Will the stress make his injury worse? Would be better to wait and see if it gets better before I do the change?

 

[Essjay]

I would be inclined to wait. The stress of moving him - or changing the substrate round him - could slow down his healing.

 

[xxamyxx85]

I would be inclined to wait. The stress of moving him - or changing the substrate round him - could slow down his healing.

I will, Thank you.