Changing gravel w/out recycling?

[viking858]

Hi,

 I was just wondering how you can change the gravel without dumping all the cycled water out and killing all your fish.  I guess i wouild have to pull all the decorations out and then somehow get the gravel out?

 I have this aqua/teal colored gravel, but i want to change it with a white or tan gravel to give it a more natural look. Wouldnt that harn the fish if i took the gravel out since it is where the good bacteira are supposed to form?

 Also, can i put my hands in the tank without hurting the fish? I have always used plastic wrap when i do maintenance. I have a freshwater tank.

thanks    *celebratesmiley*

 

[rdracer66]

What I did when i changed the gravel in my tank was make sure i had everything set aside that I needed so nothing went wrong. I had the new substrate (play sand from home depot in my case) washed and ready to go, you probably could keep evertying in the tank and remove little and replace little at a time but what i did was this. I did a 25% water change first then  removed the fish and put them in a rubbermaide container that will hold all the water from the tank, how large is your tank by the way ?
Then once that is done i get a bubble stone in there and then start removing the old substrate and putting it in a old panty hose of my girlfriends that has been cleaned then i put the new gravel in it and then put the old water back in to the tank and then top it off put the panty hose with a lot of the old gravel in it into the tank and try to hide it, in my case i just put it in my sump and left it there for a couple weeks. I wash my hands and arms completly with anti bacterial soap and then wash it completly off twice before i stick a finger in any of my tanks, good luck to ya

Kurt

 

[Troy-N-Eli]

We have on a couple occasions changed gravel w/o disturbing fish.  You just have to be very careful and not create too much current for them.  As far as gloves etc, there's really no need, so long as you're cleaned up properly like racer said.  We have bare hands in the tank all the time, some of the fish enjoy being petted, which is really cool.

Anyhow, I guess Racer's answer is more appropriate, since it would stress the fish a lot less, but our fish survived the gravel change and decoration change w/o difficulty, so I guess it's up to you which course you follow.

 

[Somonas]

You don't need to keep any of the old water at all. except for the water that you are going to temporarily hold your fish in.  When you refill the tank, just make sure the water chemistry is the same as the old water was

with us african cichlid people we just add baking soda and mgs04 until the ph/kh/gh is the same

there is no bacteria in the water, it is all on solid surfaces.