Re-Scaping a tank. Should I be careful?

[letstalkfish]

I just moved some baby Red bellies from a 55 to a 90, and I'll be introducing a couple cichlids to the 55. It currently has a natural brown gravel in it with some fake plants. I'm wanting to remove the gravel and add sand and some larger rocks, and maybe a couple hardy live plants. How should I go about this? The tank has been established for ~1 year and the water params are all satisfactory. Will changing this much effectively cause the tank to need to be recycled, or am I ok?

ALSO, for filtration I run 2 AC70 HOB filters. I guess what I am asking is will the beneficial bacteria buildup in these be enough if I remove a lot of what is in the tank and replace it?

 

[poppalina]

You should be fine but I would do a really good gravel vac before disturbing it as it could pollute the tank

 

[letstalkfish]

Thanks. I do gravel vacs pretty much every time I do a wc, because the gravel can get pretty nasty.

 

[1bigdovii]

You may get a mini cycle from it. If you change substrate I suggest waiting about a week before changing decor. It will remove alot of benificial bacteria. If you have to change everything at once then change it and keep a close eye on the water parameters.

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[letstalkfish]

I think I'll change the decor up, and then the substrate later on. Thanks for the idea.

 

[joe jaskot]

Before I change out gravel in a tank, I hook my gravel cleaner to my aquaclear power filter and clean it. Removes all the crud in the gravel.