I was wondering whta the best way to go from gravel to sand in my tank was. I probably should have set it up with sand but I thought that the combination of gravel that I used would look neat. Now seeing all of these sand tanks now I really want to change. I have 2 empty small tanks that I can put my fish in temperarily and I could put 1 or 2 in my 7. Should drain the water and start over or just take out the gravel and put sand in? Also how long does it take for the sand to settle down in the tank (and not be so cloudy)?
From Gravel To Sand ?
- Thread starter FishGeek
- Start date
i did this about mm.... a year ago. i would definitly put your fish in a separate tank if you can -- i think it will just keep them from getting overly stressed. then just scoop out all of your gravel. make sure to keep a few handfulls in a leg of an old pair of pantyhose (then once you're done, keep the leg with gravel in your tank for a few days to seed the sand with beneficial bacteria!) it's not necessary to drain your tank (ther's a big possibility that you'd actually have to re-cycle your tank some if you drained **all** the water!) btu you can drain some if it will help with the slosh factor.
then, wash and rewash and REWASH the sand to get all the fine particulates out. this is time consuming, but you'll be happier you did it!!! little by little, rinse the sand out in a bucket and a hose outside. then use a plastic cup and load in the sand by covering the open end of the cup with your hand and then dump the sand out on the bottom of the tank. this will minimize the awful cloud of sediment that will happen. you'll only need about an inch of sand on the bottom. any more and you could have problmes with toxic anoxic pockets!
i kept my filter off during this part so big chunks of sand didn't get lodgedin my filter.
it will take a few hours to a few days for the sand to fully settle... but once it looks OK, you can add in yoru fishies
then, wash and rewash and REWASH the sand to get all the fine particulates out. this is time consuming, but you'll be happier you did it!!! little by little, rinse the sand out in a bucket and a hose outside. then use a plastic cup and load in the sand by covering the open end of the cup with your hand and then dump the sand out on the bottom of the tank. this will minimize the awful cloud of sediment that will happen. you'll only need about an inch of sand on the bottom. any more and you could have problmes with toxic anoxic pockets!
i kept my filter off during this part so big chunks of sand didn't get lodgedin my filter.
it will take a few hours to a few days for the sand to fully settle... but once it looks OK, you can add in yoru fishies
i dont know much about sand, but what i did when i needed to change my gravel, i siphoned all the clean water tords the top, trying not to stir anything up so poop and stuff dont get sucked up in the "clean water" your trying to keep... i saved as much as i could without getting poopy water tords the gravel/bottom,then i dumped the gravel out, gave the tank a good cleaning, and put the new gravel, then added my original water, and added a few gallons to make my tank completly full again... this worked pretty well with trying to save my water, and my water testings came out great!...good luck!