# More Sand Questions



## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

Hi, right now i have a gravel in my 30g and im wanting to change it over to sand. How should i go upon doing this? I know to wash the playsand out, then do i scoop out the old gravel and then just slowly dump in the sand? How do i keep in some of the good bacteria, and wont uplifting all the gravel release all the exess waste and whatnot? Im kinda unsure how to do this. Thanks


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Do you currently have fish in the tank? If so this could be a bit tricky. If you pull the old gravel and place the washed sand in the tank you will have quite a bit of floating sand in the tank that will cause problems with the gills of the fish. You almost need a tank that you can use for a day or two while that sand settles.


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

Yes i do have a good amount of fish in there. Do you think a temporary move to 1 or 2 10 gals would be suitable for a few hours? Should i use the same water from the 30g or what?


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

first, has your tank already been through its cycle? if so how long has it been setup? if it has been a nice amount of time, then you should have a good amount of bacteria in the filter. (as long as every cleaning you dont scrub it) if your not overstocked and your filter is as i mentioned, then you should be fine switching the substrate. as for the sand, i dont know for sure, but i believe you just put it in a bucket and rinse very well with a hose.


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

I have had this tank setup and running with live fish for almost a year now, and the filter hasnt been scrubbed in a while. So filter bacteria would be enough?


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

imo and my experience it should be as long as your not overstocked although you may run into a mini cycle


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

The 10 gallons will work fine. Put your tank water in them and an airstone. Remove any excess water. Remove gravel (Save it for now). Add sand. Put 10 gallon water back in with fish. Put some gravel in pantyhose (new ones or something similiar). Add fish back. Let gravel set on top of sand for a week to save bacteria.


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## IloveCichlids (Jul 11, 2005)

I changed my substrate in my 120 about 6 months ago. I went from some fairly large gravel to black Tahitiam Moon sand. All of the fish I had in the tank (African Cichlids, various Mbuna) seem to do just fine with no loses. A couple suggestions I do have for you though...

1. Vacuum, Vacuum, Vacuum. I would vacuum your tank several times before you change. I would start at least two weeks before the change, and do it 1 to 2 times per week (maybe 3 if you have a H.O.T. magnum, this type of filter allows you to vacuum and recycle the water at the same time, it would be nice if you had a second filter running with this, seeing as you will have to clean the filter, depleting your bacterial colonies). If you don't, you will kick up a lot of "sludge" that has settled in the bottom of the rocks. It was pretty bad for me with the larger rock. If you have access to the bottom of your tank you can see what I am talking about. This will cloud your tank, losing visibility and stressing the fish even more than necessary. You will also need to let this settle and vacuum it out before the sand goes in.

2. Wash the sand thoroughly. Take extra time to wash each bucket of sand. I would only fill the bucket 1/3 to 1/2 the way with sand, with less sand you are assured a better chance of getting all the impurities and "floaters" out before it goes into the tank. Less clouding and better for the next suggestion.

3. Turn your filter(s) off before adding the sand. sand in filters = DISASTER! Keep them off until the sand is settled. Depending on type of sand will tell you how long. If the sand is rised thoroughly, this step should not take an exorbant amount of time.

4. Misc... 
A. I used a sturdy net to remove the gravel.
B. Rinse the sand with water close to the same temp. as the tank or let it set for a while to come to room temp. If you put sand in that is a lot different than the tank it will drop the temp. quickly, resulting in other health problems for the fisheez, mainly ICH, eeww, not good!
C. I used a plastic cup that I keep as a "fish tank only" cup to scoop out the sand and gently place in the bottom of the tank. This will also help with reducing the time it will take to settle.

5. Enjoy your new sand substrate, you will be happy you made the change, every one I have ever run across has been, including myself.


I hope that I have not forgot anything.


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

Thanks, so lets say i take 10 gallons out of the 30 and put it in the 10g. Then put in fish. Then take the gravel out and let all the debris float around??? The do i put the sand on top of it when it settles? or vaccum most of it out? im just confused on this 1 step.


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## IloveCichlids (Jul 11, 2005)

I vacuumed every thing out that I could once it settled back to the bottom, if you have an an established filter, I would start fresh on the substrate. Simpte had a good suggestion with the gravel in some panty hose. I did not do that myself, but I had two emp. 400's and a H.O.T. magnum running. I did not not take my fish out either... but better safe than sorry.


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

Ok thanks for the advice ill let you know how it goes


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Removing the "sludge I think it was called" will kill any hopes of keeping good bacteria. The mulm is your bacteria's best friend. It may be hard but if you can get the sand on top of the mulm your tan kwill cycle much faster.


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

Ive also heard about having to move around the sand with nets or have a fish that does to prevent gas pocket buildup? is this right?


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

yes i heard that in another thread here too.


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## blakeoe (Apr 27, 2005)

this is from me a few weeks ago in another post:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok as some may have already heard i just switched my substrate from blue spectrum gravel to white moonglow sand as part of my transformation from a community tank to a cichlid tank.
What i did:
a few days before,i set up an old 10 galon tank for the fish i cannot keep with my cichlids. I scooped some gravel out of my big tank and covered the bottom of the 10 gallon with it. Caught the fish, put them in the tank and let run.
Waighted two days then:
I took out all decor, turned off everything, took bio wheels out and put them into the 10 gallon tank (just floating), and drained some water (from 55 gallon) i then scooped all the gravel out, let the water settle and grav vaced the nastyness off the bottom (did that a few times) at this point there was about 1/3 of the origional water left in the tank
I then washed the sand out very good using a 30 gallon rubbermaid container and hose, Drained most of the water from the sand and put it (the sand) into the 55 gallon tank. Filled it back up with water, let sand fall, turned heaters back on, filled a nylon stocking with some gravel taken out of the 10 gallon and placed it into 55 gallon. Put filter back together with bio wheels and turned everything back on. 
Waighted a day:
tested water: 
RESULTS:
Ph: 8.0
NitrAte:5.0
NitrIte: 0
Ammonia: 0
KH: 196.9ppm
GH: 17.9ppm


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## blakeoe (Apr 27, 2005)

Also i bought some kuhli loaches and malasian trumpet snails for "stirring gravel" If you stir it with a net or with a grav vac you (or at least i) will get cloudy water for a day or two. Much better to have some fish do it for you. And they do it so slow, they do not stir it up all at once so you will be avoiding cloudy water.


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

Thanks for making this so much easier for me. I have a small catfish and 3 botia skunk that hopefully will make the job of genlty stirring sand a bit easier


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## AshleytheGreat (Jul 24, 2005)

Just what I was looking for! I have large rocks as my substrate and it seems to be hurting my tank. I 2 want to switch to sand BUT...I have an U/G filter ...Is there any tricks I could use to keep it in there and still have sand?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

UGF and sand = big no-no.


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

Im washing it out as we speak, ill update you later on how it goes.


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

I washed it out good, until half of it was missing, how long should it take to settle?


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## Guppy123 (Jul 24, 2005)

I thought all was going well, the sand was settling, the decorations looked nice, and i just took the screen off to put the fish in. I then saw my red-tailed shark dead on my carpet. It must have slipped past MAYBE 1/2" opening inbetween the screen. I felt so terrible and wondered why I even keep fish. After that i was said and done i took a long hard look at my aquarium for a few hours and figured out the real reason i have fish. So, im done.
Putting the sand in was a big messy job, i just think before anyone else tries in an already established tank, they should know what they are getting them selves into. i could not have done it without you, thanks. I will try to post before and after pics later.


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