Changing Substrate

[KieranP]

Hello People!

I currently have gravel in my tank, and i really want to change it to sand mainly for the sake of my corydoras!
is this safe to do?
i have GBRs in the tank so i am worried about a full water change as i know these are very sensitive
anyone have any experience with this??

Thanks

 

[thefaxmachine]

Why would you have to change all the water?

When I changed my tank from gravel to sand I put back some of the exisitng tank water back in.

 

[rdd1952]

Save about half of the water. That way it's basically a 50% water change.

 

[KieranP]

Ok.
So how do i go about removing the gravel?
Just hands and bucket?
Or is there an easier way?

 

[OscarWilde]

Ok.
So how do i go about removing the gravel?
Just hands and bucket?

Pretty much. Be careful you dont drag the gravel up the sides of the tank as this will scratch your glass. I've made that mistake.

 

[minxfishy]

Use a net

 

[KieranP]

Use a net

I have no idea how i didn't think of that! Good idea.

Does anyone have sand?
how do you clean it without sucking it all up?

 

[thefaxmachine]

just use your regular gravel vac to clean the sand. make circular motions about an inch above the sand and the waste will start to lift so it can be sucked up. this also stops you sucking up most of the sand.

 

[superman1]

funnilly enough i used to have gravel then decided to change to sand and now im going back..
too much hassle for me cleaning sand.. lol

 

[thefaxmachine]

i changed from gravel to sand just for the look of it - seem a touch more natural... and then after a few days it just started to look messy so I invested in darker coloured sand to hide the waste created between me doing a vac. It looks much better imo!

 

[snowflake311]

Use a net

I have no idea how i didn't think of that! Good idea.

Does anyone have sand?
how do you clean it without sucking it all up?

I have sand and I suck it up some times. You just have to be-careful. It helps to move the vacuum in little circle to get the gunk up into the tube. I run my hose to the bath tub where I put the end in a bucket. This keeps all the sand in the bucket and not in my tube. Then if there is a good amount of sand in the bottom I rinse it out and put it back in. I also find that the tube with out the wide vacuum end works better. The little tube can get in all the nooks and carnies. I enjoy cleaning the sand better then my gravel tank. I feel with my gravel no matter how much cleaning stuff will always be suck in the rocks. with the sand it sits on top no place to go but up the tube.

 

[KieranP]

Ok well i usually spend plenty of time cleaning the tank every weekend so i don't mind the hassle too much
darker sand sounds good to me, i have mollies and they tend to be a bit messy, that sounds like a great way of hiding it
id better get down the LFS!

 

[rdd1952]

I invested in darker coloured sand to hide the waste created between me doing a vac. It looks much better imo!

That's one of the reasons I only use the black Tahitian Moon Sand. Of course, I think the black sand brings out the colors of the fish better too.

As for removing the gravel, depending on how coarse it is, you can possibly syphon it out. I know it works for sand. Take the vacuum part off so it's just the hose. It creates a great suction and will easily take out sand. It may well work for the gravel too. You may have to put some water back in or you could remove most of it with a cup or something and then just vacuum the last remnants.