adding gravel with fish in the tank

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gobucks1

Feeder Fish
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Mar 17, 2008
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i have a 55 gal afro cichlid tank with lots of rock and some plants. it looks great but i have like 1/2 an inch of gravel

what can i add to my tank without taking the fish out?

i can take the rock and junk out, but i dont want to have to take out the fish or the water
 
I think you'd be safe pulling out rocks and swapping with sand. The opposite could pose a problem with ammonia pockets.
 
really?

thats sweet. you dont think it would mess up the fish?

anything extra i should do when i put it in? like try to add a filter or something?

and what type of sand should i use?
 
Just be careful when pulling things out of the tank. If you do it too quickly you can stir up detritis stuck underneath and create a mess in the water you and your fish wont be able to see through. Even in tanks that got twice weekly vaccuuming heavy decor always trapped dirt underneath. It's not actually too harmful but if your goal is aquascaping it will make seeing what youre doing tough.
 
yeah, use pool filter sand! itll be a easy switch. like everyone else said "clean it very good". throw some sand in a 5 gallon bucket add water and move sand around, dump water, add water, and repeat until sand is visible and water is not cloudy. and while your taking out your gravel might as well vacuum the debris and do a water change!
 
^ I agree, when I clean my sand I just put in a sterilite container and leave water hose running inside and stir every now and then. Crystal clear within 5-10 min.
 
alright, so i just rinse the crap out of the sand, take and the rocks and old gravel out of my tank and do a quick gravel vaccuming.
should i take my potted plants out?

and then just pour the sand in?

how much should i use for a 55 gal?

is there a such thing as black pool filter sand lol?
 
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