Replacing Gravel

[Kevin8688]

Hello, I was just thinking of replacing my gravel in my tank to sand. I'm not quite sure how to do the swap since my tank does have fish. I'm not sure if there is a forum already covering this but I was wondering if you guys could explain to me how to do the swap. I'm thinking of doing it on my 20G tank.

When I went to my LFS I saw there wasn't really sand like the beach but very finely grated gravel I guess you could say. Any tips on what would be the best. Thanks for the help!

 

[SchottayB]

Put the fish in a bucket or big plastic container with your heater / filter in if possible. I used a plastic draw thing from a storage unit when I did mine.

Should give you more than enough time to change your substrate

 

[Andy Vox]

You can use asda or Argos play sand as long as you wash it out well. Much much cheaper.
Move some of the water into a container, move the fish into that.
I'd generally try to keep 60% or more of the current water.
Scoop out your gravel, leave the bottom layer as it contains some nutrients. Cover with sand. Allow it to settle, fill up the water with some of the old water, I'd suggest tipping it into a bowl to prevent disturbing the sand too much. Wait for it to filter through abit before re-adding the fish, also check that the temp in the fish water hasn't dropped too much, try to make sure the move back isn't too much of a jump, if so heat the fish water slightly with the heater.

Hope that helps

 

[RossC]

I plan to change mine too this week and I'll be using a big plastic storage box too

 

[Kevin8688]

Washing it really well with just water right. Any ideas how to wash out such a thin substance I used a strainer with gravel since it's much thicker. Would I only need to use a bucket and drain out the water slowly? From my point of view I didn't think that would really wash it out since maybe some dirt might be stuck on the bottom of the bucket. I also forgot to mention I have some baby fry (around 30ish) in a mash net trap would changing the gravel stress them out and kill them?

 

[Andy Vox]

Best way to wash it would be in a big pot. Stir it with a stick heavily. Tip water off and repeat until the water comes out nearly clear.
That'll be the best way to go.

 

[Akasha72]

Kevin ... do not leave any gunk on the tank floor - you'll get one heck of a bacterial bloom and be changing water daily for days on end (been there done it, still got the aching muscles)

If you are going to do this deep clean the tank (not the filter or the media) washing the sand in an old pillowcase is said to be the best trick - tip the sand into the pillowcase, pillowcase in the bath/shower and keep running water through it til the water runs clear.

Once you've got everything back just keep a close eye on the water parameters. You may get a mini cycle but it will pass fairly quickly if you do all the necesary things.

There's also something new on the market called aqua pure bacteria balls. They're getting good reviews and there's a thread on the forum covering them. I'd chuck some of those in if you can get your hands on them

 

[Kevin8688]

Thanks, I can't seem to find the thread on the balls your mentioned think you could hand me the link?

 

[Akasha72]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/397863-evolution-aqua-pure-aquarium-balls/page__view__findpost__p__3345379__hl__%2Baqua+%2Bpure__fromsearch__1

top right of the forum there is a search function. If there's old threads you want to find type in what you are looking for and it'll pop up in a list.

If you type in changing substrate you'll find loads of posts on the subject

 

[RossC]

Changed mine last night the hardest thing is matching the water temps between the tank and the holding container. I found under my gravel it was filthy the water was dark brown even though I do weekly gravel vacuums. Just a tip the cheap absorbant cloths come in handy for getting the last 2cm of water out. Took me about 3 hours in total including prep and clearing time. Looks great though, no regrets so far.

 

[Akasha72]

Changed mine last night the hardest thing is matching the water temps between the tank and the holding container. I found under my gravel it was filthy the water was dark brown even though I do weekly gravel vacuums. Just a tip the cheap absorbant cloths come in handy for getting the last 2cm of water out. Took me about 3 hours in total including prep and clearing time. Looks great though, no regrets so far.

Yeah, I think we all underestimate how much gunk is sitting at the bottom where you can't see it. When I changed my sharp gravel for the softer stuff I underestimated how filthy it would be. I was seriously inexperienced back then and I got it completely wrong, got a severe bacterial bloom and was changing water for weeks. Lost a couple of neons aswell

Harelquins has just replied to me on my breeding cories thread and given me a tip on changing to sand without removing the fish. It sounds easy enough, basicly you remove all decor and plants and use a wide pipe to suck all the gravel out of one half of the tank and replace with sand. Then do the same at the other side and put all the decor back. I'm still not brave enough to try it yet though. Once bitten, twice shy and all that

 

[Kevin8688]

I might try that did he say it works or was it just an idea because I can see When I try to suck out the other side of gravel it might suck up sand and other small gravel won't be sucked up and it might be harder to clean the bottom of the tank.

Wouldn't just taking out the gravel with the fish in it be the same thing? Also, I've bee searching for agro sand other the web even Google's it havent checked Walmart yet to see if they have Agro sand. Does Agro sand for something? Might do the swap this weekend.

 

[fluttermoth]

The reason it's better to suck the gravel out with a wide bored pipe is that you'll get the dirt that's hiding down there (and however good you think you are at gravel cleaning there will be loads of gunk) at the same time.

If you try to just scrape the gravel up and out, all the gunk will swirl up into your water and make a terrible mess. It's better to take the fish out, IMO; it doesn't take long to do.

'Argos' playsand is just a brand in the UK. Any playsand will do, but do make sure you wash it really, really well before you put it in the tank.

 

[Kevin8688]

Alright Thanks you, if anything I'll just buy the sand one at my LFS don't want to do something dumb and potentially kill my fish.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Definately wash and wash and wash. I did mine in a bucket with constant running water and then mixing it with my hand... took me about 15 minutes per bucket of sand... but properly washed, I had nothing to "settle" when I added the water afterwards.