Switching out the substrate, any info appreciated.

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PDRed302

PDRed302

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 4, 2011
1,521
90
66
Fort Worth Texas
I am currently planning switching the blue/black substrate along with the fake rocks out of my tank in favor of a more natural black/natural stone and drift wood setup on my SA Cichlid tank. There is currently about 30 lbs. of black and blue gravel inside the tank. I am hoping to save what black I can and remove all of the blue, although I do realize that I'll probably have to end up pulling all of it out to get rid of all of the blue.

My Main concerns are: What do I need to watch out for and what tips can anyone offer?
I plan on taking some old panty hose and filling at least 2 socks up with the old substrate, hopefully this will keep some of the old beneficial bacteria in the tank. the plan is to leave these socks in the tank for about a week along with the old substrate.

I also plan to clean the filters about a week before the big switch as to let some bacteria build up in them.

Questions:

I know that taking out that much rock is bound to stir up quite a mess, so I do plan performing at least a 50% water change when I do the swap, is this ok? Or should I be removing more or less?

Are my Oscars likely to tear open the panty hose that is holding the old substrate? I only ask because my big Tiger O tends to knock over rocks and attack filter heads. I really don't want to give him an opportunity to tear one open and spill blue rock out all over the tank.

Is it necessary to remove all of the fish in the tank when performing this swap?

Info:

I do Have plans to pull out the Pleco and house him (very, very , very temporary, probably a day or 2 at the most) in my 20gal quarantine while I make some adjustments to his cave. He's around 14 inches so he will not have much room in a 20 gallon tank, I know but I will be removing his home from the tank and adjusting it so I will need at least 24hrs for the silicone to dry and possibly another 24hrs to test it in water.

The other inhabitants include; 3 spotted silver dollars ranging from 3 to 5 inches and 2 tiger Oscars at 9 and 12 inches.

The only temporary homes I would be able to provide for them in this move are plastic tubs (storage containers) that I would be cleaning with hot water.

I really wanted to avoid removing all of the fish from the tank but if it is necessary it can be done.

Thank you in advance for any advice on this procedure, please feel free to share any info on the subject or problems you've run into when doing this yourself.
 
Change text color, can't see a thing.
 
Switching out the substrate, any info appreciated.
I am currently planning switching the blue/black substrate along with the fake rocks out of my tank in favor of a more natural black/natural stone and drift wood setup on my SA Cichlid tank. There is currently about 30 lbs. of black and blue gravel inside the tank. I am hoping to save what black I can and remove all of the blue, although I do realize that I'll probably have to end up pulling all of it out to get rid of all of the blue.

My Main concerns are: What do I need to watch out for and what tips can anyone offer?

I plan on taking some old panty hose and filling at least 2 socks up with the old substrate, hopefully this will keep some of the old beneficial bacteria in the tank. the plan is to leave these socks in the tank for about a week along with the old substrate.

I also plan to clean the filters about a week before the big switch as to let some bacteria build up in them.

Questions:

I know that taking out that much rock is bound to stir up quite a mess, so I do plan performing at least a 50% water change when I do the swap, is this ok? Or should I be removing more or less?

Are my Oscars likely to tear open the panty hose that is holding the old substrate? I only ask because my big Tiger O tends to knock over rocks and attack filter heads. I really don't want to give him an opportunity to tear one open and spill blue rock out all over the tank.

Is it necessary to remove all of the fish in the tank when performing this swap?

Info:

I do Have plans to pull out the Pleco and house him (very, very , very temporary, probably a day or 2 at the most) in my 20gal quarantine while I make some adjustments to his cave. He's around 14 inches so he will not have much room in a 20 gallon tank, I know but I will be removing his home from the tank and adjusting it so I will need at least 24hrs for the silicone to dry and possibly another 24hrs to test it in water.

The other inhabitants include; 3 spotted silver dollars ranging from 3 to 5 inches and 2 tiger Oscars at 9 and 12 inches.

The only temporary homes I would be able to provide for them in this move are plastic tubs (storage containers) that I would be cleaning with hot water.

I really wanted to avoid removing all of the fish from the tank but if it is necessary it can be done.

Thank you in advance for any advice on this procedure, please feel free to share any info on the subject or problems you've run into when doing this yourself.

-repost with new text color, left the old one which was white on blue background.
​
 
[QUOTE=PDRed302;5350784]Switching out the substrate, any info appreciated.
I am currently planning switching the blue/black substrate along with the fake rocks out of my tank in favor of a more natural black/natural stone and drift wood setup on my SA Cichlid tank. There is currently about 30 lbs. of black and blue gravel inside the tank. I am hoping to save what black I can and remove all of the blue, although I do realize that I'll probably have to end up pulling all of it out to get rid of all of the blue.

​
[/QUOTE]
PDRed302 said:
My Main concerns are: What do I need to watch out for and what tips can anyone offer?

I plan on taking some old panty hose and filling at least 2 socks up with the old substrate, hopefully this will keep some of the old beneficial bacteria in the tank. the plan is to leave these socks in the tank for about a week along with the old substrate.

I also plan to clean the filters about a week before the big switch as to let some bacteria build up in them.

Questions:

I know that taking out that much rock is bound to stir up quite a mess, so I do plan performing at least a 50% water change when I do the swap, is this ok? Or should I be removing more or less?

Are my Oscars likely to tear open the panty hose that is holding the old substrate? I only ask because my big Tiger O tends to knock over rocks and attack filter heads. I really don't want to give him an opportunity to tear one open and spill blue rock out all over the tank.

Is it necessary to remove all of the fish in the tank when performing this swap?

Info:

I do Have plans to pull out the Pleco and house him (very, very , very temporary, probably a day or 2 at the most) in my 20gal quarantine while I make some adjustments to his cave. He's around 14 inches so he will not have much room in a 20 gallon tank, I know but I will be removing his home from the tank and adjusting it so I will need at least 24hrs for the silicone to dry and possibly another 24hrs to test it in water.

The other inhabitants include; 3 spotted silver dollars ranging from 3 to 5 inches and 2 tiger Oscars at 9 and 12 inches.

The only temporary homes I would be able to provide for them in this move are plastic tubs (storage containers) that I would be cleaning with hot water.

I really wanted to avoid removing all of the fish from the tank but if it is necessary it can be done.

Thank you in advance for any advice on this procedure, please feel free to share any info on the subject or problems you've run into when doing this yourself.

-repost with new text color, left the old one which was white on blue background.

​
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Now my eyes don't hurt, lets start there
 
i would take out the fish.if they get spooked during the process they could get injured.the water you syphon out use as there temporary tub water.i would put an airline in the tubs.i have found that switching things in tanks takes longer than planned. how big is the tank? a small dust pan or cut 1 gallon plastic jug should help with the substrate removal. 50% water change(or more) should be fine for healthy fish.i have in the past tried to set up extra filters on tanks that will go through a big change,creates extra BB.i just switched a 50 gallon tank from gravel to pool filter sand,i like it,bigger grain.really looks natural
 
would def take out your stock and save the old water as mentioned above. i have a feeling your oscar will rip open the panty hose but if he's already out i'd go with tht idea!
 
Thanks for the responses; I will be removing all the fish for the swap. Hopefully I can have it done in about 4 hours. I am definitely going to use the dustpan idea, I'll just go grab a new one with the rubber tip and wash it down at the same time I wash the tubs for temporary fish holding. I also plan on picking up a spare air pump to run in the Oscar tubs and I'll probably go ahead and throw the silver dollars in the the pleco (temp) who will have a filter for the change.
 
I did this switching from gravel to PFS. Left the stock in, they were fine, they just stayed away from the evil human hand. Moving fish around is more stressful than moving things around in their tank. O's may or may not rip apart anything in the tank, I wouldn't risk it. Taking out the gravel you are going to have all manner of things in the water column, some of it will be the BB that we all love. Keep the feedings down for a few days until the BB can re-establish itself, if you have any big ornaments keep them in there for the time being.

I wouldn't sweat it to much fish are pretty resilient.
 
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