gravel changing question

K

killerfish

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2007
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Has any one ever changed the gravel in there tank with the fish still in it or would that be way to stress full on them

The reason i ask is i have grown to really hate the black and wight gravel i have and wan't to change it to a redish brown color gravel possibly brown

so if you have any opinions on changing the gravel with fish still in the tank please post them

Also if you know where to get fine gravel thats redish brown and could tell me where to get it that would be awesome

Thanks
 
jcardona1

jcardona1

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2007
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whats your filtration and fish load? taking your gravel out all at once will remove a big portion of your bacteria. if you dont have enough bio filtration, you could see some ammonia spikes and possibly kill your fish. but yes, several people remove/change their substrate with fish in it.

a few years back i went from gravel to bare bottom with fish in there. i had a large sump so i had no issues...
 
K

killerfish

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2007
6,067
5
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colorado
thats The other thing i was worried about the filtration isn't very heavy its a 55 with an Xp2 and the power filter it came with i've been meaning to upgrade the filtration mabye i should do that first

Right now the tank is a little over stocked mainly catfish and polys but theres a few cichlids in there as we'll

i have an undergravel filter in there i wounder if that will help the situation
 
W

wjones1970

Feeder Fish
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Mar 21, 2008
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I did my 55 gal. a few years ago. What I did was slowly change a portion of the gravel (about a third of the tank) every two weeks or so. Spanning it over several weeks helps give bacteria a little time to recover. You can also fill a large bowl or tray with your old gravel and sit it in your tank to keep some extra bacteria alive while you new gravel get going.
 
K

killerfish

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2007
6,067
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62
colorado
I tried changing a little at a time before to make it black but there was no way to get all the wight out it would just get mixed up and then look like crap again i'm worried if it try that i'll have a tank with black wight and brown gravel might look good but if it looks bad i'll be back where i am now
 
benzjamin13

benzjamin13

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Sep 12, 2005
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Los Angeles, CA
Just to be on the safe side, I recommend removing the fish. Once you start scooping the gravel up, you'll be kicking up a lot of debris and little gas pockets. Those gas pockets may not be safe for the fish.
 
N

NilePufferFanatic

Gambusia
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Feb 5, 2007
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You shouldn't have those pockets of hydrogen sulfide (unless you have abog style tank). Go buy a couple big mesh bag with draw strings andput the new gravel in those. Then when you remove a third of the gravel the bag can go in it's place. Once all thirds are gone you can go and make sure all the gravel you hate is gone before releasing the full bags.
 
K

killerfish

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2007
6,067
5
62
colorado
Thanks everyone hmm that thread makes me wan't to switch to sand but i don't wan't to pull out the under gravel filter

And i'm pretty sure you can't put sand in top of gravel right allways figured it would fall threw am i wrong
 
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