Help - Switching from gravel to sand!

[H2O_Beasts]

I am thinking of switching from gravel to black sand and would love some advice on how to do this correctly....I am kind of intimidated when I think of how hard this could be...

Current setup:
55 Gallon
1x 4" Severum
1x 3" Geophagus
3x Giant Danios
1x Leopard Cactus Pleco
2x EMP 400 Filters

How difficult is it to switch from gravel to sand and can you give me some tips on how to do it?

Would sand be okay with my current setup/stock? How many pounds would I need to 55Gallon tank?

I was thinking of using Black Tahitian Moon Sand, would this be good or is there something else that would look better? Any other colors you think might look better than black?

 

[B.Ho]

Switching from gravel to sand isn't too hard, however it is time consuming. What i did to reduce stress on the fish and the filter is take out all the gravel and add about a cup or two of sand a day.

 

[bluedisc]

I used a small kitchen type stainer it worked well to get gravel out leting the water pass threw it.

 

[IMxFROMxDC]

jus take ur time with it bcuz it clouds the tak when pouring itand it also messes up ur filters it clogs them and rust them out it broke one of mine somehow i guess it blew the motor by cloggin it but it des look nice when settled in

 

[dragonfish1ca]

Not to mention...... half your bio is in the gravel bed...... SO you will have a tough mini cycle on your hands if you take it all at once and arent adding anything

 

[Dahammer]

If I were doing this with water and fish in the tank, I'd probably go to a home improvement store or somewhere and get a 1 gallon bucket. You can find them in the paint section usually. I'd fill it with the gravel using smaller cup or glass to dig with (maybe pick up a quart size also), then place it into a 5 gallon bucket to dump it once outside the tank.

When you start putting the sand into the tank, you could fill the 1 gallon bucket with sand, lower it to the bottom of the tank and gently dump it. This should make short work of it. I've added sand to mine a couple times this way and haven't ever had a problem with clouding the tank, but that is with pool filter sand.

 

[mcsnapper1]

Do not pull up your UGF with the fish in the tank, if you are using one. You'll kill them or at the very least mess them up. Put them in a tote with a heater and filter filled with your tank water if you can. Are you going to drain the tank to do this? If so, put a plate on top of the sand and then a bowl on top of the plate. Then, pour your water into the bowl. This will keep your tank from clouding up.

 

[MonsterMinis]

depdning on your Water change schedule.. I've always syphoned out gravel doing water changes over a week or 2 period to avoid bacteria cycle issues, and stress on my fish. Never had a problem with this. I also let the tank "rest" for a week after removing the gravel before adding sand. Using a bucket and carefully dumping it inot the bottom as suggested also works well ime. After the sand has been thoroughly rinsed prior, ALWAYS rinse new gravel/substrate before adding. turn your power filter off while adding the sand as well. I've blown a few impellers, and ruined some chambers by not doing this. Otherwise if your going ot leave it on. put a pre-filter sponge on your intake tube to help trap sand particles.