Changing To Sand

[Joinerlavin]

Hello I have a 10 gallon tank and would like to change the gravel to sand.

Has anyone got some tips on how to do this my main worries are

I have only a 3ish gallon tank to put all my fish in as i do this change
And once i have the sand in a water in, can i put the fish in straight away???


thanks

 

[erk628]

Take the sand and put it in a bucket or big bowl and let the water from the facuet run on it and until the water on top of the sand is clear. Every once in awhile move the sand around with you hands to let the water clean it all. Once done put the sand in your tank add water. Dont pour the water directly on the sand set a plate in there and pour it on there. Once done add the fish your water will probaly be a little cloudy but it wont hurt the fish and it will clear in a few hours ndepending on how cloudy it is

 

[Joinerlavin]

how do i take out all my gravel out first, do i put my fish in a bowl or something and then clean my tank, put the new sand in and then add the fish again???

 

[loraxchick]

wash the sand before you do anything in the tank. that way you dont have to have the fish out for very long. get a bucket, that 3 gal tank, a big bowl, anything to house the fish while you change things over (or use more than 1 container if worried theyll be crammed while you switch). then unplug filter and heater. drain the entire water volume. use some sort of scooper to remove old gravel..even a big cup will work (a dustpan works the best). replace with washed sand. replace any decor you may have removed. put a plate on top of the sand and slowly pour new water (or save some of the old tank water and refill partially). try to match the temp of the water to the "old" water. plug in filter and heater. add fish.
really, washing the sand is the hardest part and most time consuming. the actual switch will prob take about 20 minutes or so for a 10 gal.
cheers

 

[Joinerlavin]

would 15kg bag be enough for a 10 gal?

 

[loraxchick]

and then some. i bought a similar sized bag and have used a little more than 2/3 for a 6 gal, two 3 gals and a 10 gal...should work out just fine for you!
cheers

 

[Joinerlavin]

cheers

 

[mini_matt]

too complicated! do a thourough gravel vac first! leave everything running, get an empty water bottle, cut bottom off and put hole in the lid, scoop up gravel with the bottle, the water drains out the bottom...
take some sand in the bucket fill with water and stir up all the sand wait 5seconds then empty the water, repeate, take your bucket with wet sand and your bottle to your tank, fill bottle with sand finger over the hole, lower bottle into tank hole first, remove finger from hole to pour sand at the bottom of the tank no cloudiness sand setles imediatly if you washed it right