changing to sand question

[tarpon]

I have a very shallow gravel bed. Could I just thoroughly vacuum it to get all the waste out and just add sand on top of it? ?? Rather than scooping out every piece of gravel before changing?
Thanks

 

[bruinsbro1997]

No...I thought about that too. But unfortunately all that sand will just filter through the gravel and you'll end up with just a gravel bed again.

 

[tarpon]

Ohh...makes sense.
If I'm in the process of cycling will it revert my cycle /stall it?

 

[vitacrux]

Ohh...makes sense.
If I'm in the process of cycling will it revert my cycle /stall it?

Alot of Beneficial Bacterial live in the substrate, so it may stall it a bit, but this could be avoided by leaving hand fulls of gravel in nylon stockings in the tank. It will probably be alot less of a hassle to do it now, while there is no fish though.

 

[tarpon]

Ohh okay.....where can I get nylon stockings?

 

[vitacrux]

Ohh okay.....where can I get nylon stockings?

You can buy them from any walmart, but if you have a shoe carnival or footlocker near you, you can normally just grab a handful from there. They give them out for free to people who don't have socks to try on shoes with haha. I just tied my gravel up in two of them and put them in my filter tray when seeding my new tank.

How long has your cycle been going on? If it's only been a couple days then I wouldn't worry about the stall since bacteria hasn't had much time to build up yet.

 

[tarpon]

Its beenn....a loonnngggg time

 

[andresdeo]

Footlocker should be really happy that, although people are taking their stockings, they are getting indirect publicity. I say it because I've read about it like 5 times in different threads now. Lol.

 

[reefdiver]

Hey guys how much sand do you use for your aquariums?