Beth1965

I am so ready to make some changes to my 55g. Sorry I don't have a pic with me right now. It's planted and has several peices of dw. One BR, one DG and several platies and buenes aires tetras ( man have they gotten big ).
My plan is to put a soil bottom with gravel on top. This means I ahve to empty the tank. Here are my thoughts, please let me know what i'm missing or need to enhance:

1. sift through soil before starting project (make sure I have enough soil on hand)
2. fish in a 5 gall bucket (is this big enough?) w/ tank water/can the fish be this amount of time w/o filter? i really dont know how long the process will take.
3. keep filter and media in tank water with plants and dw
4. driftwood and plants in another bucket (or with the gravel) tank water
5. remove excess water (keeping enough for #5)
6. keep gravel wet in bucket (tank water)
_______________________________
1. add soil
2. add gravel
3. replace plants and dw
4. replace water (leaving room for the water that is with the fish and the plants and media?)
5. replace fishies

How does this sound and the order in which I have posted?
Thanks all.

TedsTank

Sounds great, but if you have 2 buckets for the fish may be better. In my experiences these projects seem to take longer than my brain had figured for me!!

Airstones in the fish buckets....I recommend.

House warm enough??....don't let them chill!!!

ok...1, 2, 3 go!!!!!


Funny thing I have been thinking the same for my 55 gallon!!! Keep a step by step sheet going for me!!! Or come visit us in MD and do mine please....lol

Beth1965

I do not have any airstones but i shuold have and will get 2 / will place fish in 2 buckets.
I can make sure that the room is warm enough, good point.
Also will use 2 buckets for fish.
Come on people, anyone else?
(P.S. Id love to do your tank)

TedsTank

WOW!! Thanks.....I'll ship up to you tomorrow, overnight fed-x....gee I hope the lid stays on tight!!!....I think my driftwood is boring, how I have it setup. 2 big pieces, to move them means moving the plants too....and......and....

Well get yours going and keep us/me posted....I might get inspired!!!

Edit: another thought..... If you can catch your fish in quart jars and pour them gently into the buckets they will have less stress....Some fish nets are a bit scratchy...and a struggling fish can get some slime damage. Catch them in the jar after your water level is down.

namehater

i would recommend going to walmart and buying a 30g (ish) sterilite tub. put everything in the tub, heater, filter, substrate, EVERYthing. basically, i would set the 30g up as an aquarium. this would keep your media and substrates beneficial bacteria in-tact, as well as minimizing the stress/crowding of your fish.

if you went the tub route, you could put it on the floor beside the 55g and just siphon water from the tank straight down the tub and you could net the fish putting them straight into the tub. everything would all be right at your feet when you starting the 55g back up as well.

Beth1965

Great thought, will do this.


namehater i would recommend going to walmart and buying a 30g (ish) sterilite tub. put everything in the tub, heater, filter, substrate, EVERYthing. basically, i would set the 30g up as an aquarium. this would keep your media and substrates beneficial bacteria in-tact, as well as minimizing the stress/crowding of your fish.

if you went the tub route, you could put it on the floor beside the 55g and just siphon water from the tank straight down the tub and you could net the fish putting them straight into the tub. everything would all be right at your feet when you starting the 55g back up as well
I think using one container for everything is a better idea. I think I have something I can use but it will likely be too short.

Shadowbeam

I don't have any advice to offer, but seems like you got plenty of good advice already

So I'll just offer some good luck *sends some your way* and let us know how it goes! Would love to see some photo's of the finished product

MissMTS

I did the same thing back in June to one of my tanks, and it took about a day to finish. Make sure you drain all of the water from the tank or you will make a total mess with the soil. Also, make sure that your soil is aquarium safe and doesn't have any harmful additives. A thick layer of gravel on top of the soil will help the soil from mixing with the water and making a mess in your tank. When you add the water back in, put a dinner plate at the bottom of your tank so that the water will hit the plate when you pour it in and won't make a mess of your substrate. Also, its normal to have a little bit of soil float up into the water, but your filter should take care of it pretty quickly. Good luck with the project

MaddieLynn

What I did when I put sand in my 29g was not to use a dinner plate, but a Styrofoam plate. It worked the same way as a dinner plate when I first started pouring water in but as I filled up the tank, it floated, so I could pour the water straight onto it instead of the plate staying at the bottom. There was way less water disturbance that way.

Did I just make any sense?

Beth1965

MTS and MAddie, u both made sense. I added soil to a new 10g last weekend and did a good job, hope its the same with this one.
Im sure the 55 will be more challanging to add water on top though.

Red1313

I did three of my tanks over like this in the summer.
2 tips:
1) arrange the plants in the soil before adding the gravel back,
2) Either moisten the soil before or after you add it to the tank (keep the absolute min amount of water in the tank) I had some soil that was too dry and it just made a mess.
Best of luck

Beth1965

Well, this morning my plan was to rescape a 10gallon with encouragement from you guys.
I ended up doing the 55 gallon. I was very nervous; here are some pictures as the project prgressed, I will post another pic of the tank in a few hours after it has settled some.

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Beth1965

Here's the just after pic

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harpua2002

Nice work!
My BP has shredded every plant I've tried in that tank. LOL. You're lucky you can keep plants with yours!

Beth1965

Just did water perameters and they are good. Tank is still quite cloudy. No point in taking a pic.
Beth

Tony G.

Congrats beth! its looks great! and your BP is beautiful!

TedsTank

Great Job!!!!!!!

Red1313

looking good

Beth1965

Thanks people.
The tank has only gotten slightly less cloudy so far.

Beth1965

Here it is this morning, not perfect but a lot better.

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TedsTank

Looking good, Beth!!! You have done a fine job!!

namehater

thats awesome! you should take pictures periodically to check your plant growth since you switched over to the soil

MissMTS

Beth your tank looks fantastic! You have done a really nice job. I love it

patrickdives89

It looks great!

Red1313

amazing!

bolivianbaby

It looks fantastic! Great job!