Ok i really could use some help

[swimmy103]

i have a 20gallon tank, with fish. i want to change the gravel to sand what is thfe best way to do it?

 

[my_fallen_angel]

do you have an undergravel filter?

 

[swimmy103]

no im not sure what it is but i know its not a undergravel, if it helps it kind of makes a water fall....sorry im new at this

 

[swimmy103]

bump..please help

 

[marks69]

first clean sand really well.fill a bucket about 1/2 was with sand, fill with water and stir, then drain water and repeat.
take out a couple of buckets of water, put your fish in the buckets with an airstone.use a new dustpan to remove the old gravel, put it inside of some nylons or a net bag.remove rest of water, then place new sand in tank, place a large plate on the sand and slowely pour in some new water, move fish from buckets to tank, and add the old water back in.
make sure the temps are the same, and you declor the water and if you wash it really well, the sand dust should be settled by morning.
gl
mark

 

[swimmy103]

and my fish will be ok in the water while its settleing over night? how longs should i let it filter b4 putting my fish back in?

 

[Silly me]

let the setup run for a hour or so no need to worry to much, dont clean the filter, use as much old water as possible,

 

[Doggfather]

yes, using as much of the original water as possible is a must! the fish will acclimatise much better this way.

keep us posted

 

[LoveMyOscar]

...

 

[Stryker]

I guess (quoting his reply above) "acclimatise much better this way."

If I were going to stress the fish by possibly moving them around and giving them a very different looking tank to return to I'd use their own water too. Same chemistry etc will be one less thing for them to deal with.

 

[LoveMyOscar]

...

 

[Stryker]

ok point taken thats the case for you. My tap water is pretty ####ty so if I did the above, which with all the positive reviews I may well do to one of my tanks I'll be keeping my current water.

I'm real keen on knowing how these changes to sand go for people, perhaps a journal of the change with any lessons worth learning. As it happens I have a spare quarantine tank which I may try this on.....hhhmm

 

[DrOizo]

I changed to sand with no fish in the Tank. I used very fine grain sand called silver sand that I washed Before use. It Did not cloud the tank and within 5 minutes of putting it in the Tank was clear. Pics of the tank can be seen here

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=30642

Dont put sand in with your fish When you add it because it would be for them like you trying to breathe in a sand storm

 

[pete28]

hey all i dont think sand is the way to go 9 times out of 10 it wll suck up into your filter especially if you have very mobile fish that are very active. ive seen it happen several times. and as far as contaminents in the sand you are going to use even if you boil it to get out any contaminents you still are gonna have problems. you might not notice an immediate change but i guarentee that once the sand is in there for a while and you do your first water change or cleaning youll have problems. this is just my opinion but i speak from experience, i think gravel is the way to go.

 

[swimmy103]

should i remove all of the water?