got undergravel filter. i plan to take out my gravel and replace it with sand. i will add amquel in the sand for the amonia and nitrate. what about the good bacteria in the gravel? HELP.
change gravel bacteria help
- Thread starter I LIKE FISH
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Is the snd gonna be too small for the filter? Like will it all fall down inbetween the cracks?? I dunno if I would recommend sand with an "undergravel" filter. As for the bateria, it is possible you have plenty of bacteria on the undergravel filter itself and the bottom of the aquarium. I would expect to get a small cycle spike though.
sand will not be any good for your under gravel filter. grains are too fine. if your gonna effectively rip out your filtration system then i would suggest getting a small canister filter, or another filter typew if your prefer, to do its job before switching to sand or your tank will cycle again.
the reason it will cycle again is because your gravel is the media in your filter, where i have ceramics and lava rock in baskets in my externals. so your gonna strip all the media out of your filter which is a very bad idea.
the reason it will cycle again is because your gravel is the media in your filter, where i have ceramics and lava rock in baskets in my externals. so your gonna strip all the media out of your filter which is a very bad idea.
sand is not recommended at all for undergravel...
if i change my gravel or sand i keep the original decorations and don't clean them, since they retain a little bit of the bacteria just to help it out, really don't know if you're supposed to, but it's worked for me lol
if i change my gravel or sand i keep the original decorations and don't clean them, since they retain a little bit of the bacteria just to help it out, really don't know if you're supposed to, but it's worked for me lol
Bethany;1971570; said:
Bethany has it right about keeping every bit you can to retain bacteria and give your new filter a kick start. the water holds it too unless you use a UV. but you will still need a filter cos your removing your filter media, ie gravel.