Water Change

[kev]

Just changed my gravel over to sand - I have a tight net bag holding a load of old gravel to keep the nitrogen cycle going nicely

But removing the gravel caused loads of crap to make the water murky - This has settled on my new sand

and the sand has made the tank cloudy.

Keeping in mind that I have removed the gravel - How much water is sensible to remove at a time and how ofter - I was thinking 25-30% a day until its clear then going back to normal?

Is this too much - Should I leave it cloudy until the biology settles a bit?? -

Do the fish mind it cloudy/murky?

 

[lucky62]

What kind of filtration ?

Are there alot of fish in the tank ?


there might be enough beneficial bacteria in the filter to handle a decent sized water change.

Or you could just let it settle and wait a day or 2 , then change the water.

Can't say for sure if the murky water has an effect on fish , it may, or may not .

 

[kev]

Filter is an internal fluval Jobbie.

Anyone else know how much I can change?

Fish - See my sig - It was well established - and all the fish seem to act normally - None of them got any sand in there eye at least

 

[The-Wolf]

Hi kev
the water should clear on it's own quite soon ( mine did overnight).
As for water changes I only do 20% weekly, unless there is a medical reason to do more often.
The fish should be fine with the cloudy water, the ones in the wild often get cloudy water due to heavy rains.

now you have sand you need to change how you use a gravel vacuum.
all you do now is (in small circular motions) wave the end over the sand about 1/4 to 1/2" above it, so the waste is brought off the surface of the sand and gets sucked up. It takes pratice to get it right but once you learn the technique its quicker than gravel cleaning.

 

[kev]

Cheers for the tip Danio - there is a lot of muck from the gravel that has settled now - So you Vacuum technique should come in handy!!!

I've heard that making a small well that the sand slopes towards makes a little trap for all the little bits of ****. I think its something to do with the current not affecting it - Might give this a try.

Been about 16Hrs now and its a bit clearer- Gonna try and angle my filter differently so the water moves less.

 

[lucky62]

Filter is an internal fluval Jobbie.

Anyone else know how much I can change?

Fish - See my sig - It was well established - and all the fish seem to act normally - None of them got any sand in there eye at least

10 - 20 percent