Changing My Substrate

[Noahs ark6]

Hi.

I am planning on changing my gravel to sand, please can you explain how to change the substrate. Thnks

 

[Tizer]

wash sand in bucket until water runs clear, turn off filter, scoop out gravel with dustpan, scoop in sand, let settle for 10 mins, turn on filter.

If your gravel is really messy, you might want to drain off some water from the bottom and attempt to suck up some crap before the sand goes in.

see my log for a rough idea on how long it takes for cloudy water to dissipate

Consider cleaning filter out after a week using tank water.

No, you dont have to remove the fish (but its your choice, depends which you feel will be more stressful, catching them and putting them in a bucket for 30 mins or just leaving them to it)

Job done.

 

[Proxo]

wash sand in bucket until water runs clear, turn off filter, scoop out gravel with dustpan, scoop in sand, let settle for 10 mins, turn on filter.

If your gravel is really messy, you might want to drain off some water from the bottom and attempt to suck up some crap before the sand goes in.

see my log for a rough idea on how long it takes for cloudy water to dissipate

Consider cleaning filter out after a week using tank water.

No, you dont have to remove the fish (but its your choice, depends which you feel will be more stressful, catching them and putting them in a bucket for 30 mins or just leaving them to it)

Job done.

Thanks this helped me too as i plan on switching to sand, i thought you had to remove the fish during it also!

 

[SLIM]

I just changed my gravel for sand. I did it exactly how tizer discribed, leaving the fish in. Except I took the gravel out using a dustpan and then waited til the next day to add the sand as the water went really merky. All went well, all fish are fine and looks so much better. My corys and plecs are lovin the sand.

 

[Proxo]

I just changed my gravel for sand. I did it exactly how tizer discribed, leaving the fish in. Except I took the gravel out using a dustpan and then waited til the next day to add the sand as the water went really merky. All went well, all fish are fine and looks so much better. My corys and plecs are lovin the sand.

Yeah was thinking bout leaving it a day before adding the sand, seems abit less stress on the fish!
Thanks, i'm gonna go ahead and do it.. once i get some sand

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Are there any types of sand that should be avoided? I happened to see a bag of sand from a local Home Depot, and the bag said "Not to be used in aquariums".


I've heard play sand is a good (cheap) choice, with plenty of rinsing, but this bag of play sand makes me wonder about why they would say that...

 

[SLIM]

Are there any types of sand that should be avoided? I happened to see a bag of sand from a local Home Depot, and the bag said "Not to be used in aquariums".


I've heard play sand is a good (cheap) choice, with plenty of rinsing, but this bag of play sand makes me wonder about why they would say that...

Alot of people use play sand but from what iv read, no matter how many times you wash it, your water will cloud badly for upto 2 days.
Thats just what I read I could be wrong.
For me play sand is too fine and gets kicked up too easily.
I ended up getting proper aquarium sand which was expensive (£25 for 25kg bag). Its a large grain but imo it looks more natural than play sand. And after washing it, it didnt cloud my water at all.
I got unipac zambezi sand from thegreenmachineonline.com

Another good cheap sand that is ok for aquariums which apparently is better than play sand is pool filter sand. Its really cheap on ebay