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November 4th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Changing gravel out
I was thinking of changing out the gravel i currently have in my tank to something with a diff color or possibly even some sand. My question would my fish be ok in a 5 gal bucket while i change the gravel out ? or what would be a good way to get this done ? I dont have another tank to move them to while i do this so any help would be highly appreciated.
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November 4th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| you could move the fish into a bucket with some of your tank water, and then remove your gravel but put it in a nylon bag to hang into your tank for a few weeks....removing it totally , will most likely throw you into a mini cycle where the bacteria needed for your cycle, is located in your gravel.....good luck and take before and after pics!!! those are awesome when you update your tanks  | |
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November 4th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnie  you could move the fish into a bucket with some of your tank water, and then remove your gravel but put it in a nylon bag to hang into your tank for a few weeks....removing it totally , will most likely throw you into a mini cycle where the bacteria needed for your cycle, is located in your gravel.....good luck and take before and after pics!!! those are awesome when you update your tanks |
What if you place some of the new gravel in the tank a couple of weeks before the major change? Putting some if the new gravel or sand in a nylon bag? Quote:
Originally Posted by Beth1965 What if you place some of the new gravel in the tank a couple of weeks before the major change? Putting some if the new gravel or sand in a nylon bag? |
Sorry, Shawnie, I realize we're talking about the same thing only reversed.
Beth
Last edited by Shawnie; November 4th, 2009 at 06:28 PM.
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November 4th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Beth1965 What if you place some of the new gravel in the tank a couple of weeks before the major change? Putting some if the new gravel or sand in a nylon bag?
Sorry, Shawnie, I realize we're talking about the same thing only reversed.
Beth | dont be sorry  both ideas could work well .. | |
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November 4th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Thats great advise thanks alot I'll make sure to hang some of my gravel in some hose or something when i get it done. I was leaning more towards using sand instead of gravel and i know it takes a little bit of time for the sand to settle down so my question now is how long should i wait before putting my fish back into the tank ?? and will they be ok in a 5 gal bucket with a filter in there to circulate the water ? I have
6 cory cats
5 neon tetras
3 ottos
1 molly
in case that makes a diff. I just dont want to kill my fish just cuz i decide to change out the gravel for diff color or to replace with sand.
P.S. is sand ok for live plants ?? | |
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November 5th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Hi.
IMO, sand would look perfect with live plants. I've seen many photos of tanks having sand with live plants. Just make sure you have the necessary needs for the plants. I think as Shawnie said you can put some tank water into your 5 gal bucket and they should be fine. There's no need for a filter unless you are leaving them in the bucket for a day or two. | |
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November 5th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Good to hear about the plants being good in sand and my fish being good in their temp home while it gets remodeled. Hopefully everyone gets through the transitions well and I don't loose anyone. I'm going to attempt the change today and ill take before and after pictures and post them up here for you all to see. On a side note i was going to put a gorami in there too should I wait a few days for the tank to settle in again ? or just go ahead and put him in there now ? I'm going to put the sponges and biomax things in a bucket with some tank water while I do the change so it should be instantly cycled right ?? Well wish me luck during this transition hopefully I dont mess something up and kill my fish... that would make me very sad
Thanks for your help everyone | |
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November 5th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Yes, you definitly don't want your filter media drying out. | |
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November 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| So I got my gravel changed out to black sand it was a pain in the but to get the sand completely rinsed off but I got it pretty rinsed after multiple tries. So here is a pic of how it turned out and I think my cory's really like the new sand :-)
Last edited by ssanubisss; November 6th, 2009 at 08:20 PM.
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November 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| It looks amazing.  | |
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November 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| thanks for the compliment I was looking into making a moss wall today since I dont like backgrounds and stuff they dont seem to expensive to make so maybe that will be my next little project. After that I'm thinking that im going to try and DIY a new fish tank. I'm going to try a small one first that I could use for a beta and if that goes off without too many problem I'm gonna try to make something that's around 50-60 gal | |
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November 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Don't you love making these plans? I'd love to do a full wall of moss. i've been experimenting with it first. | |
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November 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| I love making plans, plans and more plans to rule the world wait... improve my tank Usually when I get it into my head to do something it wont go away until i get it done and I usually jump in with both feet. Good luck with your moss experiments and I hope you get a wall going soon :-) | |
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November 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| It looks great! You can try getting a deco or a tall nice plant as a centerpiece, it'll look nice Good luck with all your future plans. Hope to see heaps of pics!  | |
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November 6th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ssanubisss thanks for the compliment I was looking into making a moss wall today since I dont like backgrounds and stuff they dont seem to expensive to make so maybe that will be my next little project. | Please let us know how that works out. I wanted to do one also but concluded that it wouldn't work with HOB filters. Hopefully you'll prove me wrong. I'll just sit back and wait for now.  | |
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November 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| You know I hadn't thought of that  maybe I wont be able to do this but we will see. The problem would be keep the moss from getting sucked into the intake ?? or what do you thing it is ? just so I know what problems I might run into when I attempt this | |
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