Gonna bite the bullet today and switch from gravel to pool filter sand. Couple questions: roughly how many pounds will i need, keeping in mind that i want to keep my plants. And also, should i later some fluorite on the bottom or will just the pfs be ok? This is a well established 75 gallon tank. Any helpful info would be great. Thanks in advance guys
Making the switch
- Thread starter large sausage pizza
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using a gravel type substrate underneath sand is just going to result in the sand eventually sifting down and the gravel substrate coming to the top. it won't stay the way you put it for very long.
i use play sand in my planted tank and the plants do fine. i don't dose ferts or run co2, so there is not a huge amount of lush growth, but the plants do grow and seem to be 'happy' enough. pool filter sand, with some root tabs tucked in by plant roots, would work just fine for you.
if this tank is well established, i'd change over the substrate slowly. there will be a lot of beneficial bacteria in your current substrate, and removing it all at once could send your tank into a mini cycle. i personally would remove 1/3 of the gravel at most, replace with sand, and then do additional 1/3 switches spaced at least 5 days apart, if not a week. replant your plants as you switch out substrate, or just let them float for a bit if they are a hardy enough species to do so (swords, anubias, vals, etc will be just fine floating for a week, i've done so myself).
i use play sand in my planted tank and the plants do fine. i don't dose ferts or run co2, so there is not a huge amount of lush growth, but the plants do grow and seem to be 'happy' enough. pool filter sand, with some root tabs tucked in by plant roots, would work just fine for you.
if this tank is well established, i'd change over the substrate slowly. there will be a lot of beneficial bacteria in your current substrate, and removing it all at once could send your tank into a mini cycle. i personally would remove 1/3 of the gravel at most, replace with sand, and then do additional 1/3 switches spaced at least 5 days apart, if not a week. replant your plants as you switch out substrate, or just let them float for a bit if they are a hardy enough species to do so (swords, anubias, vals, etc will be just fine floating for a week, i've done so myself).
Just finished switching it out. That was a lot of work. To save bb, i didn't change any of my filters' media. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for a mini cycle though. Fortunately, i kind of like doing water changes, so i should come out ok. The fish already seem much happier. Ill be sure to post done pics tonight after the cloudiness goes away. Thanks for the responses both of you. For an informational site, sometimes it's like pulling teeth getting people to respond. I appreciate it!!
hey glad to see it was a sucess. I've found getting a responce usually is easier if you post your actual question as much as possible into the title. for instance when I read
"Making the switch" I assumed it was about converting to Marine from fresh, which is why people may have clicked and then not responded.
As for switching substrates, when I added some sand to my gravel the gravel and sand didn't sink and rise but instead mixed together to make a gravely sandy substrate. it looks pretty cool. When I move house though I'll have to completely empty the tank so I think I'll keep the sand I already put in, (for bacteria) and discard the gravel adding more sand. I always prefered a sand substrate anyway.
"Making the switch" I assumed it was about converting to Marine from fresh, which is why people may have clicked and then not responded.
As for switching substrates, when I added some sand to my gravel the gravel and sand didn't sink and rise but instead mixed together to make a gravely sandy substrate. it looks pretty cool. When I move house though I'll have to completely empty the tank so I think I'll keep the sand I already put in, (for bacteria) and discard the gravel adding more sand. I always prefered a sand substrate anyway.
Thanks for the tip Rafini. I'm still getting the hang of this forum thing. I'm really pleased with the results though. My geos are already sifting away
Another plus i didn't even think of until i was already midway through is that ditching my gravel should in large part eliminate the hundreds if not thousands of snails i was infested with. Very happy over here indeed
snail eggs will still be on plants and other decor, so i don't think you will have rid yourself of them entirely, but the numbers will definitely be decreased by a lot for a while.