Changing Substrate

[andy_sheff]

hi all, im wanting to change my sand for gravel and have a general change around. Just wondered the best way of doing this?

 

[arobinson1984]

I've just dont the opposite today, I've changed from gravel to sand.

I went to my lfs and asked for a large polystyrene box that they get when large fish are transported to their store. Some lfs will sell them for about 50p to £1 but my lfs gave me one for free. They hold around 25-30L of water and have a lid so ideal for temporarily holding fish in.

I drained water out of my tank into the box and put in an old heater and air stone to ensure surface agitation. I then transferred all the fish into the box and put on the lid to keep the stress levels down to a minimum.

I emptied my tank of water and gravel and gave it a quick clean out with a wet sponge, cleaned my new sand and put that into the tank, filled back up with dechlored water and switched back on the heater and filter. I waited until the tank temp was back to the correct temp before adding the fish back to the tank.

All in all the fish were in the polystyrene box for about 4 hours and they all seem fine now and happily swimming around the the new designed tank (I got rid of old ornaments and changed it all completely)

Andy