I do not understand why you would get an ammonia spike? If the sand is flying round the tank now then there should not be dead pockets - if there are then I could understand that the ORP would change when the anaerobic bacteria meets oxygen and perhaps generates some Nitrite but it would not be much and could be avoided by a gravel vac first.
I would buy a fine net and slowly net it out over a few days and keep up the water changes to clear the resulting mess if there was any.
I know for a fact that I could remove all of mine without causeing any mess etc as the rays always move it around and it is gravel cleaned every weekend as a precaution to keep it all moved.
I would buy a fine net and slowly net it out over a few days and keep up the water changes to clear the resulting mess if there was any.
I know for a fact that I could remove all of mine without causeing any mess etc as the rays always move it around and it is gravel cleaned every weekend as a precaution to keep it all moved.
