I have a 46g with a clownknive in it. I have probably 2lbs of gravel in a decommisioned tank. Would it hurt anything if I put the gravel in the 46g? I have 1/2inch of gravel in the 46. After a week or so, my ammonia goes up to .25 and I was hoping the extra gravel would host new bb to get rid of that small ammonia spike. Thoughts are welcome.
Is to much gravel bad?
- Thread starter jeep07
- Start date
Extra gravel can house a little more bacteria, but it can also trap more waste. Add a sponge filter, it'll have much more surface area than two pounds of gravel for BB to colonize.
How long has the tank been set up? In order for ammonia to spike, either the tank is not cycled, or it is overstocked, or it is underfiltered. I still suggest a sponge filter.
How long has the tank been set up? In order for ammonia to spike, either the tank is not cycled, or it is overstocked, or it is underfiltered. I still suggest a sponge filter.
Aye, sponge filters are your friend, if the tank has only been going for a week with no cycling you would be wise to get some Seachem Stability ASAP (and/or filter media and to a lesser extent gravel from a established and currently running tank) and to follow the directions, otherwise your knife is in quite a bit of danger.
The gravel from a tank with no fish in it won't have any BB on it, it will have all died off when it's food supply went away (fresh fish poo), only add it if you think it would look better with the extra gravel.
The gravel from a tank with no fish in it won't have any BB on it, it will have all died off when it's food supply went away (fresh fish poo), only add it if you think it would look better with the extra gravel.
agreed; sponge filter is the way to go. adding too much gravel will take away from your water volume and probably not make much of a dif when it comes to housing bb.
I agree that too much rock can hold more fish waste. One of my tanks has a problem with brown water and I think this may be one of the problems. I have watched an aquarium store churn the rock by hand and then do a water change. The pleco tank water went brown and the guy that works there said they will do a 40% tank change on that one. This is my first time on this site. Can anyone let me know how to post my fishy questions?
Unless growing plants, I try to keep minimum gravel in my tanks, just enough to cover the bottom and hide my plecos' dirt. It is a lot easier to keep clean. I really want the bacterias to grow in my filters and not on the gravel which is disturbed every time I clean it. I also agree with Crispy and prefer water volume to gravel volume. Maybe you should increase biomedia volume.