gazz2005uk

I bought a tank about a month ago from a friend..it came with some gravel..i washed the gravel and put it in the tank..I now have an axolotl in the tank but as the gravel is quite small it tends to try and eat it. I countered this problem by buying a bag of big stones and layed them over the top, but the axolotl still managed to get to them. I noticed earlier that the small gravel is getting really dirty. I want to take the small gravel out and just leave the big gravel in to solve both these problems but doing this will make the water really dirty. How can I do this without releasing all the dirt in the tank? Would it be better to take half of the water out along with the axolotl and then take the stones out and change the water?

Jaysee

Yeah, the best way to change substrate is to remove the fish and drain the tank. Be sure to keep your filter media wet in order to preserve the bacteria colony as the switch can take a few hours - depending how big the tank is and how many times you've done it. The fish will be fine as long as the water doesn't get too cold.

Now, what do you mean by "dirty"?

Tony G.

What i do is i just use the fish net, sweep the bottom and pick them all up. Then if i cant get the tiny ones or the dust particles i just grab my syphon. take the large tube off, get it going and siphon the little stones



hope that helped

gazz2005uk

i havent got a siphon..and by dirty i mean when you move the gravel small bits of dirt release into the water. Obviously if i do this with the whole tank the water will get extremely dirty.

And it wont be a problem letting the water get cold because axolotls prefer it at colder temperatures ..you can even put them in the fridge..theyre great

namehater

i would vacuum the gravel througholy to remove the dirt, drain about half the tank, then net out the small gravel. i dont know anything about those little guys, but i think everybody should own a gravel vac.

gazz2005uk

Yeah I keep meaning to get one but I spend all my money on other crap before I get chance to get one lol

Tony G.

i feel ya. I had to make DIY siphon untill i managed to gather 3.50 (lame isnt it? LOL) and get myself a siphon. Ever since i finish my WC's within an hour unlike before it took like 3 LOL


Just grab some sort of tubing (make sure its new and kinda thick and very long, that way you have length incase you cant reach your bucket) and the other part which is where the big tube goes.. (i used a water bottle- i cut the bottom and i left the cam on, melted a whole on the top where the other tube went) and it worked great, though it didnt have alot of suction

Jaysee

The dirt is fish waste, and needs to be removed from the tank regularly in order to prevent a build up of nitrates in the tank, which will eventually take a toll on your fish. You are correct, stirring that up will make a mess of your water. However, it'll give your filter an opportunity to clean some of it up.

gazz2005uk

i do water changes every week to help it along..i had an ammonia problem with my other fish tank (tropical fish)..i had 4 die within 2 days..i didnt really know what i was doing but im doing ok now

Jaysee

Weekly water changes is a great practice that'll keep your fish healthy, but gravel vacs still need to be done. That's one of the things I don't like about gravel - it traps all the waste underneath and out of sight. Wth sand, the waste lays on top where it can get kicked up by a passing fish and sucked into the filter intake.

I'm glad you've got it under control. Not to be mean, but if you don't know what you were doing wrong, how will you know not to do it again?

aquarist48

Hello Gazz. Some great tips above. You can even use a water hose to vacuum your gravel until you have the chance to get a vacuum/siphon.
Here is a link you may find helpful if you haven't seen it before:
Axolotl - Ambystoma mexicanum

Too, I would like to suggest that you not remove all of your gravel at the same time. Good bacteria that your tank needs to keep its cycle is found on all surface areas of your tank. The largest part being in your filter. If you removed all of your gravel at the same time it may throw your tank into a mini cycle with increased ammonia. I wouldn't remove more than 1/3 at a time and still keep your eyes on your ammonia levels.

I have moved your thread to the "fresh water substrate-gravel/sand" section of the forum.
Thanks!

Ken

Jaysee

I've completely switched substrates dozens of times - gravel to sand, gravel to pebble, sand to pebble, sand to bare bottom, etc. The highest spike that I've ever observed was to 0.05 PPM, which rectified itself in a day. It's definitely good fishkeeping to keep a close eye on the tank after making major changes like that, no doubt, but IME the colony in the filter is more than capable of picking up the slack. This is NOT true the other way around (switching filters without using the old media).

VenomGrass

I'm sorry but this really cracked me up. Was laughing so hard! lol I can just see your axolotl trying to feast on the sand lol.

Hope you got your problem sorted