Disaster! Serious Substrate Situation!

[HayzH]

I agree too..strip out, clean (with just hot water) and get sand in there..far easier to clean too.

 

[coldcazzie]

Thanks I suspected as much but as you said, I was worried about the water quality change affecting the fish. To begin with I was planning on doing a 50% today and a further 50% every day till maybe Monday?

Having read this I think I might do a bigger change today.

Part of me is thinking to hell with gravel! And swap to sand. If I were to 'kill two birds with one stone' today, do I need to do anything differently? Do I still need to vacuum the gravel before taking it out? X x

I would do a larger change today and do daily water changes until Monday! With something like a string of fish deaths and pollution of the tank you can't have enough clean water.

However, if you're planning to switch to sand then that changes things. You will need to wash the sand thoroughly before you add it, and obviously give the tank a clean with a few lots of water after removing the gravel and before adding the sand.

Edit: Thinking further, stripping out the gravel will naturally be a better clean-out than leaving the gravel in, so I say go for it.

Yes it would, to have the same effect you could remove the gravel, clean it under the tap in a seive or ina bucket, then put it back in again.

Also, for future trips away, your fish can easily go for 7-10 days without food, so a week away doesn't need daily feedings with an automatic feeder. However, if you had another month away I would suggest asking your friend/neighbour to feed once a week, and seperate out the amount you want them to feed before you go. It is very easy for someone who doesn't have fish to overfeed: a "small pinch" to you means something different to them, plus there's always the chance that they'll decide on the spur of the moment to put extra in "because they just looked hungry" or something along those lines. I don't trust anyone with my fish. Any time I go away, my fish go without food. It's the only way I can guarantee that they won't get overfed by someone who is well-intentioned, but ultimately clueless.
Also, less food in = less poop out, so you're killing two birds with one stone