Removing gravel from full tank

[CanadianKeeper]

Im about to do this in a week or two. I was thinking dont do a water change untill then. Take out 50% of the water and use a cat litter scoop (new) or something similar just to scoop out the gravel. Its to heavy to syphon. If anyone has done this before or has a better way Id love to hear it !

 

[Pyramid_Party]

I have done it where I replaced the gravel with sand. But what I did was I lowered the water real low like at the gravel and then scooped it out. That cat littler scooper is fine or a cup or whatever will work.

 

[F1 VET]

Im about to do this in a week or two. I was thinking dont do a water change untill then. Take out 50% of the water and use a cat litter scoop (new) or something similar just to scoop out the gravel. Its to heavy to syphon. If anyone has done this before or has a better way Id love to hear it !

A large square net works like a champ

#1 S. Vettel

 

[ultimatejay]

+1 on the fish net, just don't scoop too much at a time or the net will break


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[Gill Blue]

I'd be vacuuming the gravel for 3-4 days before removing. I'd leave all the water in, and do a change immediately following the removal.
standard net's aren't good for gravel. they bend and rip then you have to throw them out.
I use supersized drink containers. they hold a lot and are easy to punch holes in the bottom to drain but usually last long enough for the whole tank and then you can recycle it. flexible enough to get into the corners. a cottage cheese container or sour cream container would probably be as good. plastic milk containers are no good, too flimsy.

 

[CanadianKeeper]

the thing is I have to keep the fish in the tank ... lol... I think Im going to vaccume it very well till about 20 percent of the water is out then just empty the other 50. use the net, seems like a wicked idea.

 

[ColeFishing]

i use a shock vac

 

[m1ste2tea]

if removing large quantities of gravel, I use a bucket. put the whole bucket into the tank, and use your hand to get the gravel into the bucket, you can fill it up almost to the top, and then just remove the bucket out of the water.

Whatever method you use, make sure that you put plenty of floor protection next to your tank as you are surely going to make a wet mess around it.

 

[boldtogether]

Drain the tank down to just where the fish can still swim around. Remove about half the gravel using a scoop(cat litter scoop, small dust pan etc.). Fill the tank, with treated water and then drain it again down to the low level and remove the rest of the gravel.
Here's the reason for the water change method: As you stir up the substrate, it will get very murky and even toxic for the fish. By adding fresh water halfway through, you will replace the oxygen depleted water with fresh oxygen rich water and the cloudy water wont be so cloudy that you cant see the bottom. I dont care how much you vac the gravel before hand, it is going to be a messy murky process.
Have fun.
BTW, if you can use tank water to rinse the gravel, say, in a bucket, pour the water out through a sponge and put the sponge into the filter. This will allow you to save some of the BB that will be lost in a gravel/substrate removal/replace.

 

[Regalblue]

A dustpan works great.

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