Old Gravel...Time For A Change?

[mfgl]

Ive been thinking since my fishes 55 gallon tank is empty now and sitting out in my garage. Does anyone have a goos system for cleaning gravel out of the tank? Ive been using the same 3 inches of natural colored creek stone for about 10 years now. Is there a convienent way to clean it all before resetting up the tank? Or maybe its time to just chuck it and buy new? I was thinking the fish might look better with black gravel. Any ideas? Id hate to waste all that gravel, but im sure its pretty nasty.

 

[benzjamin13]

If you want to go with black gravel, then chuck it.

 

[dwilder]

good cleaning with water and vinegar is fine if your worried about disease then add a 1:10 bleach water solution to clean then rinse well

 

[FSM]

I used one of those perforated bowls used for draining pasta, I forgot what they're called. Water goes right out the bottom, gravel doesn't.

 

[zalnn]

I used one of those perforated bowls used for draining pasta, I forgot what they're called. Water goes right out the bottom, gravel doesn't.

strainer or colander


have you thought about play sand? 50lb bags are cheap at home depot.

i have a 55gal and i put in 1x50lb bag from home depot; gave me about 2" if sand. didn't really rinse it. the water was cloudy for less than a day; i let it settle/sit for 48hrs without anything agitating the water and it came out crystal clear. now i have a power head (for circulation) and a wet/dry sump. the water is still clear.

if you are in a rush and you want to wash the sand you might need two bags, depending on how deep you want it to be, and how you wash the sand.

 

[swede]

old gravel won't hurt. the stones that make it up could be very old by the time they are bagged anyways. a good rinse, and even a good 1:10 ratio of plain, non scented bleach as stated above would be fine to clean the gravel. however, gravel is cheap and yes black substrates make colors stand out better. it will add contrast to the whole tank.

 

[mfgl]

lol, yeah i realize they didnt create the stones for me and they are probably millions of years old. I meant clean them cause they had 10 years worth of fish poo in them. Ill probably just switch to black though. thanks everyone.

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

yea black gravel well bring out nice colors in your fish

 

[mfgl]

How do you clean sand bottoms? or does junk not penetrate it so deeply?

 

[MPLSdunk]

How do you clean sand bottoms? or does junk not penetrate it so deeply?

the crap doesn't sink down in sand. i have real heavy sand so i still vacuum it once and a while though. i just squeeze the python closed if the sand gets close too getting sucked in.