Gravel To Sand Switch?

[ammer]

So, another curious question. Sorry. As I was doing a water change today, I thought how much nicer sand would look in my tank compared to the slightly orangey-tan-brown gravel I currently have.

Would switching the gravel out and replacing it with sand deplete the tank of all it's bacteria, basically making me re-cycle the tank? Also, is sand fairly easy to clean? I've never used it before, so any links to some good information would be wonderful, as Google always seems to fail me.

A little off topic about tank cycling, is it pretty safe to assume a smaller tank will take less time cycling than a larger one?

 

[.Relinquished]

A person I know, took the mature rocks and placed them in a mesh like bag or something and hung them from the top of the tank to not lose the bacteria. I don't know if this works good, but I guess it worked for her

 

[Jozlyn]

There's not a lot of bacteria living in the gravel, the majority of it is in your filter

 

[madmom]

Sand isn't that hard just takes a little practice so the sand isn't sucked up too. I still manage to suck out some sand when I clean it. I just replace the sand that gets removed accidentally.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Unless you're silly and using a UGF, all changing from gravel to sand will get rid of is all the gunk and dirt in there There's some bacteria, but not enough to make much of a difference to ammonia levels if removed.