Will This Work?

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

I am in the middle of the adventure that is switching from gravel to sand substrate, and switching to a new filter at the same time because the old one broke.

I have the sand and everything but the fish in the aquarium, and after a bit of coaxing, the new filter is running. I don't have a stocking to put the old gravel in, but could I put it in a plastic breeder cup thingy and let it drop to the bottom instead? If I fill it up with gravel, will it be enough to keep a ten gallon tank from cycling?

Also, the water is way cloudy right now. Can I go ahead and put the fish in, or should I wait until the tank is more clear? I did rinse the sand really well (I think?), its just having to settle (I'm hoping).

 

[Rooster]

Theres not a lot of biofilter "stuff" in the substrate... In my opioion you are wasting you time putting the gravel back in at all, can you not reuse the media from the old filter ?

Also, did you use dechlorinator in the new water ?

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

Theres not a lot of biofilter "stuff" in the substrate... In my opioion you are wasting you time putting the gravel back in at all, can you not reuse the media from the old filter ?

Also, did you use dechlorinator in the new water ?

The guide to switching from gravel to sand says to put some gravel in a stocking and put it back in the tank for a few days, so I was following that.

I mostly used old tank water (as the guide said) and topped it off with clean water, which, yes, I used decholrinator in .

 

[Darkerwhite2]

Can you use any old media ei. sponge from your old filter to put into your new one? that is the best way to clone a filterand stop the tank from cycling. also do you have both filters running? if not id advice it it will help clear cloudyness faster and will help with risk of cycling your tank.

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

Ok, I took the lid off and put the old filter on with the new one. I also dropped the water level to about an inch from the rim in hopes no one will take a leap of faith.


This pic is before I put on the second filter. The tank has been filtering the sand for about 2.5-3 hours. Is it supposed to be like this??

 

[Albaba]

my sand tank took around 10 days to clear! Saying that i didnt rinse the sand properly. How i got it crystal clear finally was to change the usual filter floss pad for a much finer grade one. I spotted some at my LFS and they had measurements as follows.... 2w, 3w, 5w, 35w, 50w. i dunno what the w stands for but i got some of the 2w (finest grade) and cut it into shape and replaced the regular one. Took all the silt out of the water in about 7 hours.

I had to change the pad every day for about 3 days as it got totally blocked with silt

Good luck m8

Albaba

 

[fishbone]

I've just put sand in my spare 10g tank and yes it looked like that as well! I left it for an hour then did a 50% water change, actually it was more like 60 %. This was at around 4pm and now my tank is lovely and clear. I've also put a nylon stocking over my filter to stop any fine sand getting in and damaging the pump.

 

[Rooster]

This pic is before I put on the second filter. The tank has been filtering the sand for about 2.5-3 hours. Is it supposed to be like this??

Errr, no its not !! I would remove the fish, rinse rinse and rinse the sand, then replace ALL the water - if you leave this job to the filter it will become clogged, and that will kill any bacteria that may have survived ... the filter relies on 2 types of bacteria to process the tanks waste, these bacteria need a constant source of oxygen (provided by the constant flow of water through the filter) without the oxygen they just die, thats why the old gravel wont have anything usefull in it...
The inside of your filter relies on a massive surface area to support our friendly bacteria... area that becomes clogged with the particles suspended in your water at the moment, its like what smoke does to your lungs.
Please, for the sake of your fish, do it right.

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

Please, for the sake of your fish, do it right.

Excuse me? I read pinned topics, looked at different threads, and followed a pinned guide. I have been trying to do things right, excuse me!

If you have read anything about cloning tanks (which is essentially what I am doing) it says to put some of the old gravel/substrate in the new tank because that is where some of the beneficial bacteria hangs out. I'm also running the old filter- another thing it suggests to do.

Silly me, following the pinned guides!






As for everyone else, thank you. The tank has cleared alot since I last posted, and the filters are running fine. The fish seem to be having fun exploring the new decor, except for the betta in the breeding trap who dosen't get anything new, lol. (Hes in there temporarily until I get my 5 gallon back from the rescue fish.)

If the tank hasn't cleared by morning, I will do another water change and maybe add a fine filter pad like Albaba said.

 

[dmarie04]

When I added sand to my tank I washed it washed it and washed it. I put it in the tank, put a thick plastic trash bag over the top and slowly poured the water in. Guess what? It still ended up really cloudy!! (just as bad as your pic shows) It took about two days to clear. I didn't have any fish in there, because I was just starting the cycle, so I don't know how fish would do in a cloudy tank...but sometimes you can do everything right and the tank still gets cloudy after you put in sand. Curious to see a pic of your tank after the sand settles down.

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

When I added sand to my tank I washed it washed it and washed it. I put it in the tank, put a thick plastic trash bag over the top and slowly poured the water in. Guess what? It still ended up really cloudy!! (just as bad as your pic shows) It took about two days to clear. I didn't have any fish in there, because I was just starting the cycle, so I don't know how fish would do in a cloudy tank...but sometimes you can do everything right and the tank still gets cloudy after you put in sand. Curious to see a pic of your tank after the sand settles down.

Oh, it will probably look awful! I don't do live plants, and I couldn't find the silk ones I thought I had, so there is a patch of plastic grass, a fake bubbly stump, and a clump of slate in the middle that will either look really neat or really stupid. I wanted to wait until I had the decorations, but today was my only day to devote all my energy to switching this out, so I will probably go to the store tommorow to get some fake plants (hopefully nice-lloking ones) and put them in there.

And thanks, I really do try to do things right for my animals. I have been reading about switching to sand for over a month, and been asking questions here and there. (I try to look through old threads to make sure I'm not asking something thats already answered.) I wondered about putting the fish in, but the guide I was following said to put them in, so I did. The fish don't seem to mind. If I had a spare tank I would have put them there, but I am quarantining some fish in my quarantine tank (which is actually the red betta's home- he takes a vacation to the breeder net when I need to quarantine new fish.)

I loved playing with the wet sand- it reminded me of the beach, hehe!

 

[MegTheFish]

Don't worry, you've done everything right, the tank will be cloudy for awhile. When I put sand in my tank, I washed it and washed and washed and washed....then washed some more, and it was still cloudy for a week or so!

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

Don't worry, you've done everything right, the tank will be cloudy for awhile. When I put sand in my tank, I washed it and washed and washed and washed....then washed some more, and it was still cloudy for a week or so!

Oh! Goodness, I love your rats!

Oh, and to keep it on the subject, The sand is definately clearing, and bet it should be almost normal by morning, and totally clear by tommorow evening.

 

[Albaba]

Dont worry it will clear eventually, its just a bit of a shock when your used to gravel tanks clearing in a matter of hours. And dont worry about the fish, a bit of cloudy water will not do them any harm

Albaba

 

[GoldfishAttentionSpan]

I would say the tank is about 90 percent clear this morning!