Switching To Sand Over Weekend..

[Proxo]

Few questions;

1)Is it okay to switch from gravel to sand without removing cory?

I've heard it's okay to leave the fish in but as the cory will be on the bottom
and the sand will obv be abit messy (no matter how much i wash it?) for a few days, just wondering if it's safe to leave them in?!!

2) Will i be able to add live plants in the near future without any difficult problems?

I've been doing a tiny bit of research into live plants as
im getting bored of fakes but i didnt wanna do it all in one go, wanted to spread it out to keep myself happy & busy for a lil longer + im skint lol.

Cheers peoples

 

[Caprichoso]

That should be interesting....to me, it would be best to remove the cory and have him in a temporary home with an air stone and heater. When you add the sand, there's going to be loads of fine particulate matter and it's better to let that settle first IMO. I've never done this before but I don't think I'd want the hassle of worrying about the fish whilst uprooting everything. I would just get a 5 g bucket or something, add some of the gravel, a plant, heater and air stone. He will be fine for a couple of days while sorting it all out. Yes, you can add plants right away, your fishies will love it!
Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Tizer]

Fish really dont mind messy water, what do you think happens when a boat goes up a canal and churns up the bottom? No they dont go and sulk, they go on a feeding frenzy!

Just clean the sand really well, it will be fine

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm going to disagree with you there, Tizer.

I changed substrates with fish in last summer and it was a total nightmare. The amount of crud that came out of the gravel was unbelievabe, and I'm pretty thorough with my vacuuming.

It was obviously stressful for the fish too, as next day my tetras and my rams had whitespot, and I haven't had whitespot in one of my tanks for over 15 years!

I'd take the fish out, honestly.

I find it easier to plant in sand than gravel, as the sand rolls back into the hole so you don't have to fiddle about trying to bury the roots and hold the plant down at the same time (though I will admit I was a bit worried the plants wouldn't root into sand, so I do have a few handfuls of gravel around them too)

 

[Shaman]

I changed over a few weeks ago. Drained the tank right down, removed the ornaments and most of the gravel (the crud levels where astonishing!) I then used a cup to place the sand where I wanted it. Some of the areas the fish were sulking so I left these as gravel for now. Placed a small plate where I was pouring the water back in to keep disturbances to a minimum.

When the tank was half full I then added the decor and filled back up. After a few days I then used an old tube of a vacuum cleaner and topped up the sand in the areas that I had missed. Success.

The Rams & Plec love the sand. I've also got live more live plants now and they are doing ok in the sand.

Shaman Dan

 

[Proxo]

Mixed answers, i dont know what to do now lol..

My plan was to leave the fish in, remove the gravel tomorrow (friday) then add the sand in saturday or even sunday?

The gravel is pretty fine, i could possibly even suck it up through a gravel vac..
that'd be less stressful to the fish as there'd be no nasty scratching sounds ect?

 

[trikidy]

I changed from gravel to sand.

I siphoned out half water, removed fish and ornaments. I put the fish in a big bucket with the water i had siphoned out.

Litterally got ALL the gravel out quick as i could, took about 20 mins maybe 30, then put the sand in and fresh water and turned heater and filter back on.

left it an hour and put my fish in

its been about 3 days and my water is nearly back to normal clearness

 

[Proxo]

Well i removed the gravel with the fish still in the tank, it was pretty messy but
not as bad as i thought it would of been, there's just a VERY slight tint of brown to the water (shows my gravel vacs are top notch lol).

I did half a tank at a time, putting decor back in the empty gravel half for the cory/fish to hide & they didnt seem all that bothered tbh!!
Soon as i had put the tank lid back on they was all back out and on the explore..

Going to add the sand in tomorrow or sunday, not sure if im gonna leave the fish in while i do it or not yet!!

 

[algir]

Whatever you do, rinse the sand really well! I helped a friend switch to sand a week or two ago and he didn't rinse it well enough. Huge mess! Bottom line: you cannot over-rinse sand. Good luck!

 

[Proxo]

Well i've done it, i left the fish in too!!

It went alot better then i thought it would of apart from it was ment to be sunny today
but it rained so i was cleaning the sand in the rain ...

I used a cup and slowly place the sand in & the water isnt very cloudy at all IMO!

The cory & other fish look fine so far, fingers crossed they didnt get too stressed.