I'm going back to gravel for a number of reasons, mainly because I have a group of fish who are under the impression that there is an excavation project going on in my tank. Plus the sound of sand in the impellers of my AC110's is slowly driving me insane. So what I plan on doing is using a couple of 30 gallon rubbermaid containers to hold my fish while I switch the substrate. So I guess my question is should I expect an ammonia spike since I'm removing the BB that had built up in the sand or should the Biomax in the filters be enough to keep things stress free?
I've had it with sand
- Thread starter Stang1
- Start date
Im removing the play sand in my 300 (not for the same reasons) And I actuallu ised the rubbermaid tubs to catch the sand. I just shoved the python in the sand and let it suck it out. Instead of removing it all at once I just remove a little more with each water change.
This way keeps from stirring things up too much and doesnt stress the fish anymore than a water change.
If you have a basement (with a sump pump) or can put the tub outside you can siphon the sand into the tub and just let the water run over the sides. So far it has worked well for me.
This way keeps from stirring things up too much and doesnt stress the fish anymore than a water change.
If you have a basement (with a sump pump) or can put the tub outside you can siphon the sand into the tub and just let the water run over the sides. So far it has worked well for me.
when i switched from gravel to sand i just did half my tank at once. then half later, so spikes. and if you have good filtration, i wouldnt worry too much about it.
I doubt it will affect it at all, the only thing I could see if you have gravel with an UG filter, gravel being your bio bed. To my knowledge sand at the bottom of tank as a substrate would have little bio activity, being that it's stagnant. You know there is some larger granules of sand that may not get sucked up into your AC although the 110 is pretty powerful....
Well I finished the swap and I must admit it looks a 1000 times better then it did with the sand. So far the fish seem to be enjoying it...thanks for the input
just a little post advice you will get a little bit of a load on your filters sand is a natuarl host for benificaial bacteria I would recommend cutting your feedinding down for a few days and airating your water to give the colonys a chance to rebuild in your new substrate and to increase population in your filter(s) keep an eye out for a bacterial bloom also..
Sadly, I was wrong...I figure if there isn't any sort of flow going through the substrate it wouldnt' host bene bac......
Benny Bac
Benny Bac
I fiqured that a bacteria boom would be a threat...I'll try to get some before and after pics up this evening