Hey how are you guy....I have been thinking aboutchanging from gravel to sand....the thing is that I have 4 baby piranhas in my thank....can I make the change with them in the tank?....would it affect the good bacteria in my tank? Would it be safe? Also what kind of sand could I use? I have heard of people using play sand would that be ok? Thanks for all the help
question for all piranha experts
- Thread starter 21nando
- Start date
personally I would get pool filter sand over play sand, it's cleaner and larger grain size so settle down faster if it happens to get kick up by you or buy your fish.
it's best to take your fish out of the tank then perform the substrate swap. Most good bacteria lives in your filter, there will be some in the gravel but if you have enough bio media most will be in there.
it's best to take your fish out of the tank then perform the substrate swap. Most good bacteria lives in your filter, there will be some in the gravel but if you have enough bio media most will be in there.
all a personal preference but my opinion is sand is a smoother/cleaner look. however, i have black gravel in my tanks.
you can get pool filter sand in any home supply store (lowes, home depot, heck even toys r us)
if you place the intake high enough then it shouldn't matter, if you have concern just put a prefilter around the intake and that will take care the sand getting into filter issue.
any pool supply store should have pool filter sand. I got mine from leslie's pool supplies.
any pool supply store should have pool filter sand. I got mine from leslie's pool supplies.
ok guys sounds good...i have been asking a lot of people in lfs about what i want to do...some say my fish will be fine some say they wont.....so this is what i'm planning on doing.....next weekend i'm a get some pool filter sand and lean it....remove the gravel on one half of my tank and replace it with sand....leave it in there for a week and the next weekend replace the other half.....maybe that way it gives bacteria a chance to grow.....does this make since? i don't have lots of experience it just sounds right....
if you do decide to go with a substrate change do it all together. most bacteria live in your filter's bio media, you can take the fish out, drain the tank and save as much tank water as possible, take the gravel out, place pool filter sand in (you can clean it if you want, I got lazy and didn't clean mine but they were pretty clean. if you go with play sand you NEED to clean it), fill the tank up very slowly (you can place a large plate or some kind of shallow container on the sand and pour water on to that so you won't stir up sand like crazy)
forgot to ask you, do you have or plan on growing live plants in the tank?
forgot to ask you, do you have or plan on growing live plants in the tank?
You don't need to worry about the bacteria in your current substrate, siphon out some of your current water into a bucket or rubbermaid & leave your fish in there & then remove all the substrate & add sand after you clean it. Your filter should have all the beneficial bacteria you need. Oh & also I never had a problem running sand with a hob filter, it doesn't really kick up & hover around like dirth