Switiching To Sand

[afireinside]

Ok, tomorrow I plan on taking out the gravel in my tank and putting in sand. I'm fully aware on how the clean the sand, so lets not get into that. Now, I know that the gravel holds beneficial bacteria needed in the tank, so what should I do? Put some of the gravel in the filter cartridge? Leave a little gravel in the tank? I'd really like this question answered tonight. Thank you!

 

[afireinside]

Sorry to be rude, but I need this info pretty much within a few hours.

 

[Lynden]

I told someone to be careful about changing their gravel because it holds much of the bacteria, and I got #### all over. Sorry to be blunt, but it's true.

Basically, make sure you have a big filter. There is probably enough bacteria in the filter to sustain a lightly stocked tank. And also make sure you clean the gravel that you are removing before changing it; I know that sounds pointless but if you don't it will throw debris from here to Tokyo, and therefore reduce oxygen levels in the water, and maybe bring predecomposed matter to the surface, resulting in an ammonia spike.

Before doing this, capture the fish and put them in a bucket. Move out all decorations and plants, and sieve out the gravel with a net, or strainer. Be careful to support the net though; the net method works well, but the net can be bent from the weight of the gravel.

-Lynden

 

[Shelly0518]

I bought some new women's nylons, rinsed them and put my gravel in the nylons, added the sand and let it settle, put the nylons in the tank and then put my fish back in the tank. Worked great, no ammonia or nitrites. I separated it into several smaller "nylon bags" and took one out every couple of days.

Good luck!
Shelly

 

[afireinside]

All good ideas. I will try a combination of both, but why in hell would I buy women's nylons, people at the store would think me odd. lol, i'll think of something similar.

 

[voo]

Save half your water if you can. I emptied half of the tank into a bin then put the fish in there along with the heater and filter. Then i removed the gravel and just threw the rest of the water.

You might find when you fill up with water again that it'll go cloudt from the silt in the sand. It does take a while to clear but i think it's harmless to the fish.

Oh, and remember to take before and after photos

 

[afireinside]

Oh ya, I will. And I'm going to put a plate down at the bottom of the tank, to stir up less silt.

 

[Captain Retardo]

Just rinse the water in a bucket until the water is clear, then you won't have to deal with silt...

 

[RRasco]

you are going to get cloudy water for a day or so regardless of how much you wash the sand, mine cleared up in 12 hours after switching to sand, i only have a couple of fish in my 55 gallon right now, i just drained the water to like 6 inches, then scooped out the gravel, then put all the sand in on one side, then leveled it out, never took the fish out....and they were fine.

you can see my before and after here:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=154958

 

[Captain Retardo]

Well OA I advise you to wash the sand because I am the one giving it to you, and I will tell you right now, it has bits of stuff from the yard, grass,etc. because my brother toyed with it too much, so wash it!

 

[voo]

I washed each bucket of sand that i used 5-6 times, and still it gave off loads of silt in the tank.

Before adding the sand, are you adding any other substrate to make a planted tank? How deep are you planning on having the sand?

 

[Htw]

Hi. I changed from sand to gravel [the opposite ] a couple of months ago. Admittedly, my sand wasn't deep enough at the time for great planting, so I put the gravel on top of the sand.
I sucked up a lot of debris first, moved the sand away from the edges of the tank, and then put the cleaned gravel on the top. From all angles it looks as though it is all gravel.
This way I didn't lose my beneficial bacteria, made it plenty deep enough for planting and had no problem when everything was reinstated. I only disturb the surface of the gravel when i clean, so not to make the sand come up. Fish were happy and it cleared overnight.. Not sure if it would work the other way round as well, as the sand may eventually go through, but it may be worth a try even with just the bottom layer of gravel left.

 

[voo]

If you was to put sand on top of gravel you could use a gravel tidy, so that the two layers don't mix. It's like a fine mesh.

 

[babybell911]

If you put gravel ontop of sand wont it mean you cant stop the gas pockets forming?

I changed to sand and it i washed my argos playsand til it ran clear water wasnt cloudy at all when i put the water back in.

 

[Shelly0518]

Instead of women's nylons, use childrens tights. I always have some on hand, they are very useful in setting up a hospital or quarantine tank. Filter media from another tank or two and some gravel in nylons and I have a cycled 10g tank. I have gravel in nylons in several of my filters. It is a contained and easy to move bacteria haven.