Changing My Tank To Sand

[methodmza_uk]

Hi guys.

Can someone give me some ideas about this?

I currently have my tank set up and cycled for a few months now. Got my fish in there and they are all fine apart from the guppy who has been attacked!!

I was lookin at my tank and thought about changing from the gravel I got with the kit to sand and have some more plants in there.

Now is there a way of changing over to sand and keeping all the bacteria so i dont hav to cycle again. Also is it safe moving my fish around while i swap the gravel for sand?

Many thanks guys

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The vast majority of the beneficial bacteria is in the filter sponge, so you shouldn't have to worry about your tank cycling as long as you keep the filter running while changing the gravel to sand .

You should be able to get all types of sand from your local fish store although you can also use childrens playsand- the thing to remember though is to thoroughly wash it out in tap water before adding it as it will make the tank very cloudy otherwise for a long time.
The way i would go about it is after cleaning the sand out, to simply move all the fish out of the tank into a bucket with the filter and heater running in it, and go about moving all the gravel and decor/plants out of the tank. After you have done this simply put the sand in the tank, you dont need to take the water out of the tank although you might want to do a water change after everything is back in as moving the gravel might stir up any muck underneif it that has avoided substrate cleaning sessions. Then all you have to do is simply acclimatise the fish back into the tank and job done ! The sand may still make the tank a little cloudy for a short while but cleaning it out before hand will seriously help stop this .

 

[The-Wolf]

this topic may help you through the process
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=71597