Changing The Substrate

[SamUK]

Mornin guys.

last nite i went on a rescue mission and saved a mates tank which he was seriously neglecting.


worked out ok for me cos i got a free 3ft tank, ornaments, bog wood and some fish including a fully grown RTBS, Pearl Gourami and Angel Fish.


dont kno how they all survived as the water was basically green but ive got them home and there swimming in nice clean water now.

trouble is the tank looks like this

now i dont mean offence to anyone but it looks like some kind of barbie/harry potter tank with the castle and pink gravel so i need to chage it to my preffered more natural look ASAP.

im gonna start with the gravel.

do i need to take the fish out or if i do it slowly do you think theyll all be ok and hide at the other end of the tank im not workin on


i wanna do it the best way cos there probably still a lil shocked about the ride over here.


any advice would be great!

 

[The-Wolf]

personally
I'd remove the fish and place in an 80ltr plastic bin (I brought one from homebase specifically for my fish), add the filter and heater to the bin and place the lid on it, thus putting the fish in the dark and reducing the stress.
Then I have all day to sort out the tank.

Remember to place at least 25% of the old gravel in some tights and lay in ontop of the new gravel for a few days, this will allow the bacteria to migrate into the new gravel and aids easy removal of the old gravel.

oh and kudos to you for rescuing the fish

 

[SamUK]

thanx dude.


think i have the same 80L bin as you except mines kinda c-thru and i jus use it for water changes.


guess i could jus throw a blanket over it tho.


think ill do that, thanx again!