Best way to resurface the substrate?

[dionisk]

My tank had a bottom inch of gravel followed by an inch of sand above it. Cory catfish, a bristlenose, and several cleanings later and now the dark gravel is intermixed with the yellow sand and makes the bottom of the tank look awful and dirty. I have some plants rooted currently as well, and a centerpiece driftwood.

Any advice on how I can "resurface" the sand/clean it up a bit? Or maybe even replacing the substrate completely (with something dark and preferably better for plants)?

Any way of doing any of this without needing to drain the tank almost fully?

 

[Jconner3]

I replaced my substrate while I was doing a weekly water change. Took out 1/3 - 1/2 the water, fish, and decorations, swapped substrates and put everything back in. Nice and simple and didn't run into any problems.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

How big is the aquarium and how many inches is the current substrate?

I really like eco-complete or floramax. It's dark and great for planted tanks.

 

[dionisk]

It is a 37 gallon tank, so total height on 22inches i believe. The current substrate is 2-3" (2inches of whatever i put down at the time, followed by 1" of sand above). It varies depending on where, as it seems the starlight bristlenose pleco dug up pockets, and im sure the panda corys didnt help the problem.

Can I just get eco-complete or a black sand from lfs and place an inch of it on top of my current without issue? Also poke holes for a while to get the gasses out during water changes?

Not sure if I want to continue dealing with white sand and how dirty it gets.

 

[jetajockey]

Id swap it out completely, if you don't it is bound to mix eventually.

 

[Wyomingite]

Id swap it out completely, if you don't it is bound to mix eventually.

Exactly. tryin' to keep different substrates from mixin' in a tank is an excercise in futility.

WYite

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

i really dont want to hijack this thread but i want to ask if anyone has any suggestions on how remove sand from a tank?

i started with a black gravel substrate and now i have pure white sand but lately i've been thinking of going back to gravel but it seems like it would be an absolute pain to remove the sand and i'm not even sure where to start

 

[Wy Renegade]

Sand or any substrate can easily be removed using a hose for a siphon. Just don't suck up too large of a piece or it will plug the hose.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

well thats good to know... although i might have to hook the siphon up outside so i don't clog my sink pipes lol

thank you for that though

 

[jetajockey]

I use a clean dustpan to get the bulk of it.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

thats an awesome idea!! i didn't even think about that...

 

[Wy Renegade]

well thats good to know... although i might have to hook the siphon up outside so i don't clog my sink pipes lol

thank you for that though

I just siphon into a bucket. Poor off the excess water when it fills and go again.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

the only siphon i have is the one that hooks up to the sink. but i Jets idea of a clean dustpan... i never would've thought about that.