substrate change?

[speakerpedal]

Ok so I'm kinda not digging the unnatural look to my substrate and was wondering if it's reasonable to consider a change in an already established tank? it's 20gal. if so how could I go about doing this? granted I have it cycled and an extra tank to hold all my fish for a breif period of time.

[Northernguy]

Thats not to much work.
Just empty some tank water into the other tank and place your filter on it and your fish in it.Empty the tank and clean it out.Put the prewashed substrate in the tank with the decorations and fill it up with fresh water and dechlorinator.Place the filter on the tank and add the fish.Discard the water from the other tank and your done.

[Aeonflame]

^^^ Cant add much to that. All you have to do is choose your substrate. You may want to consider live plants in the future, so plan ahead.

[Mith]

For what its worth....and I only speak from what I did because I'm not NEAR as knowlegable as others here....

Having said that, my community tank used to have pebbles AND fish AND fry LOL. I methodically removed the pebbles (not hard, just time consuming) then added the sand (VERY clean sand, no dust). I had zero problems and left the fish in the tank.

My two cents. Remember, I'm very new and not that smart.....but what I did worked for me.

Good luck!

[Northernguy]

How long did that take Mith?
Do not include trips to the fridge for beers!lol

It is a much quicker job with the fish in another tank or bucket.It may even be less stress on them.People have been doing it either way for ever.

[rich311k]

I have done it several times. I have always removed the fish. Just a tip so it goes as quickly as possible, have everything ready before you start, especially the rinsing of the gravel.

[Mith]

How long did that take Mith?
Do not include trips to the fridge for beers!lol

It is a much quicker job with the fish in another tank or bucket.It may even be less stress on them.People have been doing it either way for ever.

LOL....well, seeing as how I had to keep stopping to grab a turkey bastor since I had a few fry swimming around that I didn't know about! Talk about a challenge....I had pebbles, not gravel, so those little suckers kept going deep into the substrate LOL. Who knows how many casualties I scooped up!

I REALLY cleaned the blasting sand so once I got all the pebbles out, I was able to put the sand into a bowl, lower it to the bottom and dump it. Since I pre-cleaned the sand so well, I virtually had no cloudiness.

I can turn a half hour job into an all day affair as slow as my fat azz moves LOL

[Lady Hobbs]

All I do is take down the water level, remove the old and add the new and refill the tank. Nothing to do. I don't even remove the fish.

Bacteria lives in the substrate to so just watch your tank for a couple week to make sure you see no ammonia spikes. Might be good to use a bit of Tetra SafeStart for a week.