Moving House And Substrate Change

[benthyer]

Hey all,

I am due to move house soon and I have read the guide in the resource centre.

I have been contemplating changing my substrate to sand for a very long time now and this seems like the best possible time to do it.

My only concerns are around the short period of time that I would have to do all this and the time it takes for the sand to settle. Could I even put my filter in and turn it on whilst it all settles?

Could this also end up causing a mini-cycle or cycle as I would be removing all the substrate that currently has bacteria on it.

Thanks in advance

 

[rms]

Place your sand in a big bucket and leave it under the tap for a long time. Every time the water runs clear just stir the sand very gently and let it run clear again. Do this repeatedly for a couple hours and your sand will cause minimum cloud in your water. While you're doing this have your fish in some safe, temp matched water in another bucket/container with the filter running in it (if possible). Use old tank water if you can, but dechlorinated tap water will work just as well if it's temp matched and the pH/KH are similar. If the filter is too big buy a really cheap one that fits and use a small amount of seeded media in it. This will give you plenty of time to arrange your tank just how you want it, and allow plenty of time to fill it slowly, which will also help minimalise the sand causing a cloud. Once the fish are back in it's perfectly safe to get the filter up and running in the tank with the new substrate. Cloudy or not. Will be worth while cleaning the filter out after the water has cleared, applying the usual precautions with filter mainenance. Yes you'll lose some bacteria with a change of substrate, but it should be fine. If it does spike then a few water changes over a few days should rectify.