To clean or not to clean?

[Liamsdad]

Hi everyone,

I’m taking delivery of a new 180 Litre Rio Juwel tank tomorrow and am swaying towards having substrate on the floor of the tank rather than gravel.

I’ve watched a few videos of tanks being set-up and I’m surprised that people are just emptying the substrate straight out of the bag. Does it not need to be washed? As i washed my gravel in my 94l tank?

I’m eager to buy bits an pieces to fill the tank - does anyone have any suggestions for the new topical tank?

Last question also, if i transfer most of the water from my existing tank to the new tank and top up the water, do you think this would harm the fish or would you start afresh, let the tank do a cycle and then introduce my existing fish and add a few newbies?

Thanks in advance

 

[Wills]

Hi everyone,

I’m taking delivery of a new 180 Litre Rio Juwel tank tomorrow and am swaying towards having substrate on the floor of the tank rather than gravel.

I’ve watched a few videos of tanks being set-up and I’m surprised that people are just emptying the substrate straight out of the bag. Does it not need to be washed? As i washed my gravel in my 94l tank?

I’m eager to buy bits an pieces to fill the tank - does anyone have any suggestions for the new topical tank?

Last question also, if i transfer most of the water from my existing tank to the new tank and top up the water, do you think this would harm the fish or would you start afresh, let the tank do a cycle and then introduce my existing fish and add a few newbies?

Thanks in advance

What kind of substrate do you mean? Like a planted substrate? If its a soil are you going to grow a carpet? If not I'd go for sand as soil substrates don't look great if nothings planted in them. You can always have a substrate area if you are growing plants in certain areas and sand in other areas. A sand substrate will give you a broader range of fish you can keep in them too.

Wills

 

[Liamsdad]

Thanks for your reply. I’d like to have an area (possibly the front of the tank which is carpeted). I just wasnt sure if to just have substrate all over or substrate and then gravel on top. So many variations i suppose!

 

[FishHobby99]

Hi everyone,

I’m taking delivery of a new 180 Litre Rio Juwel tank tomorrow and am swaying towards having substrate on the floor of the tank rather than gravel.

I’ve watched a few videos of tanks being set-up and I’m surprised that people are just emptying the substrate straight out of the bag. Does it not need to be washed? As i washed my gravel in my 94l tank?

I’m eager to buy bits an pieces to fill the tank - does anyone have any suggestions for the new topical tank?

Last question also, if i transfer most of the water from my existing tank to the new tank and top up the water, do you think this would harm the fish or would you start afresh, let the tank do a cycle and then introduce my existing fish and add a few newbies?

Thanks in advance

Not sure what you mean by substrate. I always wash sand or gravel thoroughly.
I‘m only buying plants now. I do have sufficient hides for fishes that prefer them.
I always transfer ~50% of water from the existing tank to the new one & use the old filter & substrate when possible as a source of beneficial bacteria. I‘ve sometimes purchased a new filter and kept the old one around for a while.

 

[Uberhoust]

I used Tropica Aquarium soil and powder in my tanks about a year ago. For those substrates you do not rinse or wash. They work best if you put the soil in first then fill the tank slowly and carefully. You can also change the substrate in place but then you have to do the work slowly. Your tank will cloud but it will clear. You might also get a algae bloom because of the nutrient and floating soil material but that too passes.

Having used gravel, sand, and aquarium substrates I find that sand works the best for me. Plants initially did really well with the soil but I found it hard to keep the surface clean. Note, I had corys at the time and they did not like the soil at all, it abraded their pectoral fins and barbels, my Goby did not seem to mind the substrate.