More questions re: How to change substrate?

[johnsmith]

I'm planning on switching my tank from gravel to sand and would like to know if anyone has any advice on how to do this as smoothly as possible.

I don't have an extra tank so the fish will have to stay in there. Is that alright?

Also...

What's the difference between pool filter sand and play sand? Is one better than the other for a tank?

thanks

Edited May 18, 2005 by johnsmith

[Vallisneria]

Well i've changed the substrate in my 15 a couple times(red gravel to natural gravel to sand) and never had any problems. This is how i did it.

I netted out the fish and plants and put them in a 5g pail(I put a heater and a filter on the bucket). I then vacumed the gravel and sucked out all the water. Then i scooped out the old gravel and put in the new substrate. Then filled up the tank again carefully(try not to make it cloudy). Then i put the heater(i used a extra heater and filter for the bucket) and put the filter back on. BUt remove and save the old media. When i put the filter back on i put a bunch of filter floss in there and run it for a couple hours to remove any of the particles that make the water cloudy. Then i put the old media back in the filter once the tank is fairly clear. Once the tank is filled and I let it run a bit(to clear the water) i add the fish back. I also take some of the old gravel and put it in a old pantyhose and put this in the tank by the filter. THis helps your bio filter recover.

I"ve done it this way 2 times and the fish have never had a problem.Ofcourse my tank was only a 15g and was fairly heavily planted. If your tank is large and has lots of fish then you can do the half and half method. You keep the tank running and remove one side of the gravel and replace it, then in a couple weeks replace the second half. Its messier but you won't loose so much of your biofilter and cause problems for the fish.

[johnsmith]

Thanks degrassi, I should have mentioned it's my 40g. I can't really put my fish in a bucket so I should probably do the half & half method.

[punman]

I changed a 45 from gravel to sand once. I drained half the water. Then used a seive to collect the gravel. Turned off the filters for an hour while I put in the sand. All the while the fish (about seven) were in there.

No problems but the gravel sure was dirty. That is why I may never go back to gravel. It looked clean but was not.

i have only used pool filter sand so I cannot compare to regular.

Edited May 8, 2005 by punman

[Maximus]

I'm planning on doing this with a 20 gal soon, switching it to black sand. I may do half & half, or I was thinking maybe in even smaller portions, to not mess up too much of the bio-works all at once. I plan to essentially vaccuum the old stuff out so as to minimize the filth factor... so I will probably have to do it over a period of three or four 30% water changes. - I'm hoping.

Play sand is fine, like beach sand, and may contain pebbles and what-not, depending where you get it.. Pool sand is coarser, but more uniform.. Both need to be well washed before use.

[rahim101]

Here how I have done it in the past with out removing fish:

First take out all the decor that's large.

Then, I use a good sized fish net and start scooping out the gravel, the net will catch it all...When you have just a few bits left in a corner, I use just the yubing of the gravel cleaner to suck it out.

Then make sure you new substrate is cleaned out and carefully start putting it back in then set up your tank....

All the crap that is in the old gravel will be stired up a bit, but it will not harm your fish. If there is a ton of crap, then wait till it settles and vaccum it out or lett the filter pick it up BEFORE putting the new sand in!!!!

I would use pool filter sand as I have seen many people use it and it is quite cheap.

Good Luck,

[johnsmith]

I now have a bag of pool filter sand and have one more question. I seem to remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't use your garden hose for fish-related business unless that the only thing you use the hose for. The only thing that comes out is water, so I can't see why that would be true.

Am I missing something here? I'd like to clean out the sand outside so I'm not dumping runoff sand down the drain. Is it fine to just use my garden hose?

[Vallisneria]

I cleaned my gravel with the garden hose and i didn't have any problems. I"ve also used it to fill up new tanks(to test them out) and didn't have any problems.

[African_Fever]

I've been using a garden hose to fill my tanks, and I'm pretty sure that the Syno's would make a stink right away if there were any trace elements or anything to be concerned about.

[johnsmith]

thanks, that'll make life a lot easier.

[jakel2k]

I think the reasoning is that if the hose is left outside things might get into the hose that could hurt your tank, (namely bad bacteria, debris and bugs.) I think if you run hot water through the hose first you should be okay.

[Vallisneria]

I remember hearing about it not being safe to drink from hoses. Here is something i found http://www.wral.com/money/2379998/detail.html Seems that there is lead in the hoses.

I'm still never had any problems when i used the hose(or drank out of it :shock: )

[arixonbarnes]

When they used chlorine in the water supply it did not have a long life span and things could grow once the chlorine was gone. Cloramines last longer but also have a limited life. Best to run some fresh city water through it to clean it out first. I use a bleach solution for dipping the intake hose while syphoning out water during water changes and when I'm finished I run it through the hose and finish with some fresh city water to purge the bleach. If you are going to use hot water check the type of hose - certain types of hoses will split if hot water is run through them (ask me how I know this!)

Edited May 19, 2005 by arixonbarnes

[jakel2k]

Ahem, how do you know this?

That's odd since some scorching days I'm sure the hose gets really hot, especially the black ones. For them to split when hot water is ran through them seems odd to me.

[Go Big or Go Home!]

a hose will split when hot water is used because the inside of a standard gardenhose is not as tough as the outside....so after a time of use and a few kinks the inside becomes week ....when hot water passes through the hose the week spot then becomes worse with the hot water making the rubber soft...once the inside splits or gets a hole its just a matter of time till you have water on the floor

where i work we use hot water to clean trays......a garden hose lasts about 3-4 days before it pops...a airline hose lasts about 2-3 months...and braided polyhose lasts 6-8 months

ive seen enough water on the floor from a poped gardenhose to last me a lifetime :cry: