I Want To Change My Gravel

[ihasanzongi]

i want to change my gravel to a more natural looking one, as i have some bright colour ones. im sure that my fish will enjoy a new one. but i was wondering if i take my gravel out and put a new one in if it my tank will loose any bacterica or any thing esle, i dont want to mess up my tank.. this is for my 20 gallon that has been cycled.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Yes you will lose bacteria, but it is easy to fix... make sure you do not clean your filters before doing this. Next, take a couple hand fulls of the old gravel and put it into panty hoes and leave it in the take for a couple weeks, this will help speed up bacteria growth and give you the security of having bacteria still in the tank.

Beware when changing they gravel that you might have an ammonia spike from loosing up all that junk in the substrate.

 

[ihasanzongi]

Yes you will lose bacteria, but it is easy to fix... make sure you do not clean your filters before doing this. Next, take a couple hand fulls of the old gravel and put it into panty hoes and leave it in the take for a couple weeks, this will help speed up bacteria growth and give you the security of having bacteria still in the tank.

Beware when changing they gravel that you might have an ammonia spike from loosing up all that junk in the substrate.

ahah great thanks for the help, i didnt wanna mess with anything in my tank till i knew what i was doing..i just need to find a good gravel cleaner now, mine broke

 

[crazie.eddie]

I did the same thing to my 55 gallon tank. What I did was I did a thorough gravel cleaning on one side of the tank and then removed the decor from that side of the tank. Leave the decor untouched on the other half of the tank. This gives the fish some conform with familiar surroundings to hide in. I then replaced the side I removed with the new gravel. I kept a plastic piece between both types of gravel so they do not mix. I then replaced the decor back on that side. Then a few weeks later, I did the same thing on the other side.

 

[ihasanzongi]

I did the same thing to my 55 gallon tank. What I did was I did a thorough gravel cleaning on one side of the tank and then removed the decor from that side of the tank. Leave the decor untouched on the other half of the tank. This gives the fish some conform with familiar surroundings to hide in. I then replaced the side I removed with the new gravel. I kept a plastic piece between both types of gravel so they do not mix. I then replaced the decor back on that side. Then a few weeks later, I did the same thing on the other side.

did you do it half at a time to have less stress on the fish right? or is this just being on the safe side?

 

[nukeonekitty]

I think either way it is going to be stressful to the fish.

 

[crazie.eddie]

I did the same thing to my 55 gallon tank. What I did was I did a thorough gravel cleaning on one side of the tank and then removed the decor from that side of the tank. Leave the decor untouched on the other half of the tank. This gives the fish some conform with familiar surroundings to hide in. I then replaced the side I removed with the new gravel. I kept a plastic piece between both types of gravel so they do not mix. I then replaced the decor back on that side. Then a few weeks later, I did the same thing on the other side.

did you do it half at a time to have less stress on the fish right? or is this just being on the safe side?

Yes, I did half at a time. It is stressful for the fish, but being in a familiar environment is a little easier for them. That's why I left the other half of the tank alone. They can hide in the areas they are familiar with. If you removed them into a another tank, they will be unfamiliar with the suroundings and may feel a little more stressed. Put it this way, if I knew there was something dangerous going on outside, I would feel more comfortable in my own home, than in someone else's home. At least in my own home, I know where to go and hide.

 

[ihasanzongi]

good point and thanks all!