Removing Ugf Do I Need To Worry About The Cycle

[karin]

Hi.
I want to take out an UGF and replace gravel with sand. This is an established tank with a HOB filter too that has all mature medium. I get that it is going to be a crazy disgusting job. But will the existing HOB filter do the job of biofilteration and not interupt the "cycle"; it is one that is rated for this size tank. And should I still put some of the gravel in a stocking and lay it on the sand for a couple of weeks to encourage good bacteria migration? I would rather not.

Thank you.

 

[loraxchick]

change your substrate and monitor the stats. waterchange where necessary. i would imagine there may be a small spike, but should right itself within a few days. just test and waterchange if a mini cycle should happen. feed sparingly and dont scrub the decor until the tank seems stable.
cheers.

 

[waterdrop]

Yup, agree with loraxchick, test and watch, waterchange if necessary and you should be fine. If the mature media is just now being -moved- into this HOB and the HOB -moved- to this tank (rather than the HOB having been working on this tank/stocking with this same media) then the chance of the spike being larger and longer is greater but what you do is still the same, I'd say.

~~waterdrop~~