Old Gravel & New Substrate

[Powie]

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are wanting to get into live plants in our tank. We have a 50 gallon that currently has regular gravel in it, approx 1.5 inches. I've bought some substrate on ebay and it should arrive any day now.

I have an idea to get the new substrate in without hopefully too much mess in the tank. Using a plastic pipe and pouring the gravel down to the bottom. Hopefully this will eliminate some of the particles floating around, and stressing the fish. Though I am open to ideas...

Now the tough part, how to get most the old gravel out. I don't really want to remove it all, the substrate is black, and the gravel is a mix of dark red and white, I'm thinking it might look nice with a bit of gravel left in the substrate. I plan to take out and replace about 1/4 of the gravel at a time. (every other day?)

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[netcode]

there was a pinned article somewhere regarding changing substrate in an already set up tank.

bascially what it said was that you should remove the fish from the tank. take some of your water put it into a bucket or bare bottom tank and throw your fish in it. It shouldn't harm the fish too much and stress should be minimal as the water will be the same. I would assume there would be more stress if you were stick your arms in and moving everything around.

also i suggest a thicker layer of substrate.. most plants like about 3 inches from what i recall reading.

another thing is if your planning to remove most of the gravel I would suggest supplementing some sort of product that will increase the growth of beneficial bacteria. this may not be mandatory but i know it would be something i would be concerned about, then again i worry about every little thing.

I am no pro though.

goodluck my friend

 

[Powie]

Thanks netcode,

I "searched" around for articles, but I often spent more time looking than getting answers.

Well guess this might be one way to get that extra tank w/o the girlfriend hanging me. lol.

I am buying some of that Eco-Complete which is supposed to have beneficial bacteria as well. As well as I think the filtration system on here is pretty decent. (SeaClear Systen II), which should help keep levels in check.

Again thanks for your thoughts!

there was a pinned article somewhere regarding changing substrate in an already set up tank.

bascially what it said was that you should remove the fish from the tank. take some of your water put it into a bucket or bare bottom tank and throw your fish in it. It shouldn't harm the fish too much and stress should be minimal as the water will be the same. I would assume there would be more stress if you were stick your arms in and moving everything around.

also i suggest a thicker layer of substrate.. most plants like about 3 inches from what i recall reading.

another thing is if your planning to remove most of the gravel I would suggest supplementing some sort of product that will increase the growth of beneficial bacteria. this may not be mandatory but i know it would be something i would be concerned about, then again i worry about every little thing.

I am no pro though.

goodluck my friend