Substrate Question!

Hello all!
I was just wondering what the best way to change out a substrate is? I would like to change my gravel substrate to sand and was wondering what the best process would be? Thanks!

 

I typically just pull out all the decor and plants, but leave one piece of decor for the fish to hide in. Then remove the substrate with a cup.

Next put the new rinsed substrate into the tank with a cup, even it out and put everything back in.

 

Easiest way Ive found is to turn off the filter and heater, remove 50% of the water, remove any plants & decorations, scoop out the current substrate, replace with new substrate, add decorations and plants, fill tank back up, turn on heater and filter. Just that simple.

 

Easiest way Ive found is to turn off the filter and heater, remove 50% of the water, remove any plants & decorations, scoop out the current substrate, replace with new substrate, add decorations and plants, fill tank back up, turn on heater and filter. Just that simple.

Thank you! That sounds like the least difficult, do you keep your fish in the tank?

 

I kept mine in when I did it. (fish that is) Depends on who you ask, some say leaving them in stresses them, some people say transferring them to another container is just as stressful so I left mine in.

I will also second what the first response said, make sure you rinse your sand. Easiest way I found is to pour sand into an old pillowcase & spray with a hose. The fine dirt will travel trough the pillowcase leaving only the heavier sand particles. Also I would give the sand a little time to settle before I turned the filter back on, I ended up replacing a filter that way. (it still worked but was making so much noise I lost faith in it) Of course I also didn't wash my sand so it was a mess.

 

Yes, I leave the fish in. I feel as though that's less stressful than trying to net them, put them somewhere foreign for an hour only to try and net them again to put them back.

 

Hello all!
I was wondering if anyone has experience with CaribSea Super Naturals Aquarium sand? I’d like to replace the substrate in my guppy/tetra tank and was wondering if this would work? Does it cloud the water a lot? Did it make fish sick in your aquarium? Thank you!

 

It'll work, it should only be slightly cloudy for a few days at most. It does not make fish sick

 

I'm going to take a note that after watching the king of diy, I am using pool filtration sand, and for the first few days my water was slightly cloudy but after a few water changes my water clearity is really good. I probably should do another water change but I am currently working on starting the nitrogen cycle.