55g. Gravel to Sand. (w/ pics)

[xEchOx]

Hey fellas. I got tired of looking at my purple gravel, and decided to make the switch to sand. Silica was 3 bucks for 50lbs at lowes.

Pre-sand.

Taking out slightly feminine purple gravel.

I used a net to pick up the loose gravel on the bottom.

Putting sand in. I used about 60-65lbs. of the 100 that I bought. (after cleaning of course)

A helping hand is always appreciated.

After one 50% water change.

After another 50% water change.

The next day.

Took me about 2 hours, but it was well worth it IMO. Let me know what you think.

 

[Slim2634]

alot better, i like gravel more than sand, but that sand looks really good. especially with the new decor and everything.

 

[HarleyK]

Awesome job

Sweet looking tank!

 

[xEchOx]

Thanks guys.

 

[DarthLungFish]

Very Nice Tank! How long did it take you to clean out the sand? The water in the last picture looks crystal clear, did you use a Vortex Filter to clean, or just the ones on the pictures? Still, Very nice set-up.

 

[Dr Joe]

Great job.

How often does the big guy rearrange the bottom?

Lets see it again in a week...

 

[xEchOx]

Very Nice Tank! How long did it take you to clean out the sand? The water in the last picture looks crystal clear, did you use a Vortex Filter to clean, or just the ones on the pictures? Still, Very nice set-up.

It took me about 10-15min to get all the old gravel out of the tank. It took me probably 35-45min to clean the silica sand. (Silica is much cleaner than play sand IMO) All together I spent about 2 hours on this project. The only filters I used are the ones that you see. I really like the sand. Thanks for the comments.

 

[xEchOx]

Great job.

How often does the big guy rearrange the bottom?

Lets see it again in a week...

He is actually the little guy, but he does move the plants around quite a bit. We'll see how long it takes him to rearrange this setup.

 

[RedDevilDon2005]

very nice

 

[rkc772]

great job! now... how much time would it cost me to change my 180.. maybe 4x the time you spent. wanted to change my gravel to sand... would it be better to take all the fish out first and do the change?