Thinking of Switching to Sand

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
NorCal

NorCal

Exodon
MFK Member
Mar 20, 2015
77
0
21
Marina, CA
Anyone ever make the switch from gravel to sand in an established tank? Will it cause a mini cycle?

I just switched from an HOB to a canister filter about 2 weeks ago, should I wait on the BB to become more established before doing the switch?

Any info is appreciated. Thanks in advanced.
 
I did the same thing years ago. I have also switched from pool filter sand to black sand and back again. I had no issues. However since you just changed filters I would probably wait another month or so.
 
Just did pool filter sand in my 180, so far I really like it although I may mix in some darker sand because the fish seem to wash their color out with the light color substrate.
 
yes, you should wait a month or two for the new filter to get right.
 
I mixed in some carib sea peace river (i think) with pfs and it looks gread
 
You can spread the work out a lot by removing about 20% of the gravel every week. This way, in about 5 weeks, you could have all the gravel removed with a clean bare bottom tank and ready to add sand. Better, I think, than doing it all in one shot, especially for larger tanks.
 
xraycer said:
You can spread the work out a lot by removing about 20% of the gravel every week. This way, in about 5 weeks, you could have all the gravel removed with a clean bare bottom tank and ready to add sand. Better, I think, than doing it all in one shot, especially for larger tanks.
Click to expand...

Not too bad of an idea... Wouldn't remove the BB that the gravel houses all at once. Although I don't know if I have the patience to see my tank transition through weeks
 
I'd mix the gravel weekly, just to disrupt the bacteria that forms on the upper layers the few weeks before the shift. Though since you recently switched filters, it'd be a good idea to put it off a solid month. I had no issues when i did a swap, but my filters were well seasoned, and my gravel mixed several times a month. It generally takes a full month, or more for bacteria to be established on a new media, longer if it is already settled on another substrate. There's a balance between population, food, and availability of a suitable surface.
 
I did the same thing changed from gravel to sand and changed my fx6 to a 2262 all in the same day....had no issues the media holds most of your bb.

If you moved all bio from old to new filters i dont see a problem
 
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