correa3382

Hello Fishlore,

I am new to this forum and new to fish keeping. I have 3 Cory Cats and wanted to change the substrate to something that would allow them to dig and play. Currently I have black gravel with neon colored accent rocks, but I am concerned with my cory cat's barbells. Is sand my only option? Also, I recently finished the Tank Cycle, which took 7 weeks and the life of one of my Bronze Coradoras, and didn't want to go through that again. Also Since my tank is more populated, i wouldn't want to put my fish through a stressful cycle. Should I just keep my existing gravel? Thanks for any insight you can provide.

ryanr

Changing/disrupting the substrate in any cycled tank can result in a mini cycle, as bb also live in your gravel.

Rightly or wrongly, I recently removed the UGF from my 25L, given I had a crack to repair, I figured I might as well remove the UGF while the tank was drained (I have an established/cycled canister on the tank)

I put a heater in a bucket, drained aquarium water and then transferred my fish and driftwood into the bucket. Then drained all but an inch of water into a second bucket. I removed the UGF then siphoned the remaining water out, together with a lot of detritus, and threw this on the garden.

Then poured the second bucket of aquarium water back in and let 'the dust settle' so to speak. After about 30mins I moved the fish back in and the rest of the water from that bucket. I topped up the difference as I would any water change.

So far so good, everyone seems happy, and haven't experienced any signs of a mini-cycle yet (test again tonight)

HTH - just my experiences, may not necessarily be the right ones

MissMTS

Welcome to Fishlore

I have kept cories with gravel and they have done just fine; however, they do LOVE sand and have so much fun digging and playing in it. There isn't much of a chance of you loosing your cycle if you decide to switch out your substrate as long as you have biological filtration (such as ceramic balls or rings) in your filter. Most of the biological bacteria is located on that media, so as long as you keep your filter running on a tub of tank water that contains your fish while you do the substrate change, you should have nothing to worry about. I know it can be a very intimidating process, but if done right, it can be very easy and go rather quickly

Edit: Also, if you wanted to make sure you didn't loose good bacteria, you could put some of your old gravel in a mesh bag or a foot of a pair of nylons and hang it in your tank for a few weeks.

correa3382

I have a Aqueon Power Filter 30, it has 2 blue plastic mesh "do-dads" in front of the replaceable filters. Is that the same thing as a ceramic ball or ring? I believe the point of the blue "do-dads" is for BB?

Thanks all for the replies!

MissMTS

Hmmm, according to this link, I don't think the Aqueon Filters have bio-media. I have never used them myself though so I'm not positive:

http://www.aqueonproducts.com/produc...ilter74412.htm

I do know that most power filters are customizable so that essentially you can fill them with whatever media you choose. Maybe try adding a mesh bag with ceramic media to the filter and let it run for about a month to allow bacteria to colonize on the media before you switch out your substrate.

Hopefully someone who has used this brand of filter can confirm this information though since I'm not very familiar with them....

aquarist48

Good mornng Correa and Welcome to Fish Lore!

Since your tank is newly cycled, I recommend that you keep some of the old substrate in NEVER seen soap nylon hose or mesh bags and keep the bags in the tank for at least 3 weeks. This will help the new substrate to colonize with good bacteria and to help prevent a mini cycle. After the 3 weeks you can start removing the bags.
Keep and eye on your readings.
Ken

haedra

The blue plastic grid is the "bio grid" for Aqueons. It is meant to hold the BB, and in my experience seemed to work very well. I had an Aqueon 10 on my old tank. I never experienced any mini cycles or spikes of any sort when I changed the cartridge, so it must have been doing something.