Gravel On Top Of Sand

HI folks,

I have a 29 gal community tank that has been established for about a year now. Currently it has sand substrate, but I'm considering going to dark colored gravel. This is mostly because it's very hard to keep it looking clean. I've considered removing all the sand, but wasn't sure how it might work to put the gravel on top of the sand...

The layer of sand is not very thick (1 in. Maybe). I just didn't know if removing the sand would cause my cycle to crash (and it would probably be a pain).

Any thoughts?

 

What are the inhabitants?

 

The gravel will eventually mix in with the sand and settle to the bottom, so unless you are wanting a mixed substrate eventually then I wouldn't recommend it.

 

I don't mind a mixture too much, but I'm more worries about removing the substrate crashing my cycle. Will it be alright if I follow it up with more frequent water changes?

Inhabitants are some danios, neon tetras, cory cats, and a pleco.

 

In my tanks, pea gravel sits on top of sand. The smaller granuals of sand melt in between the gravel. If I added gravel to your setup, I would just add a sprinkle. See how it works. Cory cats really do like the finer sand. You would not need a lot of gravel to help blend in the debris, and I wouldn't want to trap debris. Remember gravel needs to be siphoned, when you skI'm siphon, some sand will come up again. I personally like the sand / gravel look. I use PFS and a sprinkle of pea gravel.