Changing substrate

[Braddah]

Ok so I have a buddy who will give me a new bichir...however I dont want to take it untill i change my substrate...2 Q's 1: should i go with sand or a larger stone? .... and 2: what means shoud I use to switch w/o throwing my tank into some crazy nitrate spiking mess (if u didnt read my other post...my bichir choked on a small rock from the substrate and ended up "drowning". I dont want to have another die due to my lack of attention)

 

[semper fi]

i would go with a larger more natural looking stone. imo it looks more realistic. sand can get stirred up easily and clog your filters.

your bacteria thrives in your substrate. also referred to as the nitrifying bacteria. if you are replacing your existing substrate with new never used substrate you stand the chance of crashing the tank if not done properly. i have taken a tank divider and cut it to the height of the substrate and removed a fourth of the gravel. i used the tank divider to seperate the two different gravels and every week moved the divider forward adding new gravel and removing old til all of the gravel was out.

maybe some others will come alo9ng with a different method of doing it.

hth

semper fi

 

[Mollymomma]

ohh Semper that sounds like a great way to do it...wish I thought of that lol

 

[Braddah]

that is a great idea! I guess ill go buy the larger stones...but is it the same rule of thumb? 1 pound for ever gallon???

 

[semper fi]

depends imo on what you like. some of my tanks are barebottom. i do tend to keep a thicker substrate for the africans as they do like to dig. also will breed in birthing pits. the sa/ca tanks are not as thick with substrate though.

semper fi

 

[Dave]

Im changing my substrate to half sand half gravel. This is after moving the tank. The gravel will be old and used gravel. So do you think Ill get a nitrite problem when I do the change?

 

[gadazobe]

To keep the gravel with it's "bacteria" it must be kept wet and oxygenated. The good bacteria will not survive if the gravel dries out or is lacking oxygen. When you say you're moving the tank do you mean from one spot to another in the same room or moving house to another town? If you're just moving the tank, there should be no problems if you leave enough water to cover the gravel. If you're moving town, then put the gravel in buckets and use the tank water to cover it. If you give it a swirl everynow and then to keep the oxygen flowing, it should be ok.