Thinking of Switching to Sand

[NorCal]

Anyone ever make the switch from gravel to sand in an established tank? Will it cause a mini cycle?

I just switched from an HOB to a canister filter about 2 weeks ago, should I wait on the BB to become more established before doing the switch?

Any info is appreciated. Thanks in advanced.

 

[barley pop]

I did the same thing years ago. I have also switched from pool filter sand to black sand and back again. I had no issues. However since you just changed filters I would probably wait another month or so.

 

[monkeybike]

Just did pool filter sand in my 180, so far I really like it although I may mix in some darker sand because the fish seem to wash their color out with the light color substrate.

 

[ragin_cajun]

yes, you should wait a month or two for the new filter to get right.

 

[NorCal]

Yuup I shall wait on the sand then. Thanks for the input fellas.

 

[jaws7777]

I mixed in some carib sea peace river (i think) with pfs and it looks gread

 

[xraycer]

You can spread the work out a lot by removing about 20% of the gravel every week. This way, in about 5 weeks, you could have all the gravel removed with a clean bare bottom tank and ready to add sand. Better, I think, than doing it all in one shot, especially for larger tanks.

 

[NorCal]

You can spread the work out a lot by removing about 20% of the gravel every week. This way, in about 5 weeks, you could have all the gravel removed with a clean bare bottom tank and ready to add sand. Better, I think, than doing it all in one shot, especially for larger tanks.

Not too bad of an idea... Wouldn't remove the BB that the gravel houses all at once. Although I don't know if I have the patience to see my tank transition through weeks

 

[MilitantPotato]

I'd mix the gravel weekly, just to disrupt the bacteria that forms on the upper layers the few weeks before the shift. Though since you recently switched filters, it'd be a good idea to put it off a solid month. I had no issues when i did a swap, but my filters were well seasoned, and my gravel mixed several times a month. It generally takes a full month, or more for bacteria to be established on a new media, longer if it is already settled on another substrate. There's a balance between population, food, and availability of a suitable surface.

 

[jaws7777]

I did the same thing changed from gravel to sand and changed my fx6 to a 2262 all in the same day....had no issues the media holds most of your bb.

If you moved all bio from old to new filters i dont see a problem