Substrate Change From Gravel To Sand?

[Smurf]

Hi folks - I've done a forum search but not found anything so sorry if this has been covered elsewhere....

I've got a 34-6 litre (depends how much evaporation there's been) freshwater tank (external filter) with a bristlenose & half a dozen cardinal tetras. Its been up and running for a looooong time & the current residents have been 'at home' for getting on for two years now.

My substrate since forever has been fairly coarse gravel and its always been a bit grubby below the surface. I'm pondering removing it and replacing it with something finer & installing a freshwater shrimp to stir it all up.

If its relevant, I have fake plants due to a horrific-never-to-be-repeated snail explosion in a previous tank(!)

Thoughts???

Cheers!

 

[mattlee]

the bset thing for turning substrate in a small tank are malaysian trumpet snails.... i know you dont want snails but these guys burrow into the substrate and are hardly ever seen. they can breed well if allowed enough food but if you dont overfeed your fish then they will stay in small numbers. shrimps wont turn the sand they are just scavengers and will eat any food they come accross and some will eat algae too.
sand in my eyes looks so much better and natural and will be better for your plec than the course gravel its on at the minute.
if you do change to sand then just keep an eye on the water stats as the gravel may have harvested some bacteria, not much but might be enough to cause a mini spike but nothing a few water changes can sort out

 

[stuuk1]

Its a small tank, catch the fish, get them in a bucket or whatever you can put them in, just keep an eye on water temp. save some of your tank water in another bucket to.

Drain the water and gravel etc (keep filter media wet in tank water) and clean the tank. Change over gravel to sand (wash sand out lots and lots) bish bash bosh, fill back up. Job Done

 

[Smurf]

Eek - snails! Need to think hard about that....

Hadn't thought that the substrate might be too rough for poor Dyson

Thanks for your help - changing over sounds fairly simple....famous last words Will try to get to the LFS this week & see what they've got. Am I likely to lose most of it everytime I do the vacuuming?!

Daisy x

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Lol no, of course not, assuming you're not just using a length of hose that is. And even then you can skim it over the surface of the substrate to get rid of muck without swallowing most of it.
P.

 

[mattlee]

have a look at play sand instead of aquatic sand it will be a massive saving. if you have an argos near you then its about £3 for a huge bag

 

[fluffycabbage]

have a look at play sand instead of aquatic sand it will be a massive saving. if you have an argos near you then its about £3 for a huge bag

Ive just used 3 bags of that in my 200l, and that amount is perfect

 

[fishkeeper51]

HI,

i recently changed the substrate in my tank from pea gravel to black sand. All you need to have is a bucket to house your fish, and a few to hold as much of your original water as possible.m place a heater in with your fish and if they are in there for longer than a few hours add a small filter or air stone. Scoop out the old gravel and replace with the sand. then fill the tank back up.

If ypur looking for things to stir up the sand. i've got 5 corydoras catfish (2 albino and 3 bronze) and the dig around in the substrate and remove ant waste food. they are perfect for this jobs and are hardy companions for a community tank.