would it stress my Betta to move him to my community tank for a month?

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bobc4d

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I have a 10g tank with only a Betta in it. I want to convert it to sand from gravel. would it stress my Betta to move him to my 39g community tank for a month while the 10g re-cycles itself after converting to sand? There is about a 2-3F temperature difference between tanks. I have 5 red/blue Tetra's, 7 neon tetra's and 4 Cory Cats in the 39g.

I am not sure I want to try changing out half the 10g gravel with sand then later do the other half while keeping my Betta in the tank.
 
My bad... Didn't see that u posted the stock... Haha

I had a betta with Bloodfin tetras and they tormented him, just nipped his fins like nuts. So it depends on whether or not yours are fin nippers
 
Does the betta tank have a filter? The rocks dont usually hold the cycle.
 
Just put him in a five gallon bucket with some tank water in it. Do the substrate change and put him back after the cloudiness has mostly cleared up. That will be the least stressful on him. So long as you keep your filter media wet there should be no issues but you might want to keep an eye on the toxin levels for a few days just to be in the safe side.
 
There's no need to put the betta in another tank at all. I've changed substrate w/o even experiencing a mini cycle. Be sure you don't clean your filter or change your filter media at the same time (and keep your filter media wet) and you should be fine.
 
Make seeded media first

Add a piece or two of cut it yourself filter pad for a couple of weeks in with your other filter media or if you have a HOB add one inside and add one to the overflow (just tuck it in a little to hold it) into the tank so all the water flows through it, then you will have some awesome seeded media and your fish will be happy. No stress, no shock.
 
Just know that I've changed substrate in more tanks than I could count and I've never relocated any fish to another tank because of it. It's simply not necessary. You should be staying on top of your water parameters with regular testing and water changes, just like always, and that's it.
 
Just know that I've changed substrate in more tanks than I could count and I've never relocated any fish to another tank because of it. It's simply not necessary. You should be staying on top of your water parameters with regular testing and water changes, just like always, and that's it.

any suggestions on how to do this successfully? would my filter hold enough bb to prevent or reduce the time of a cycle?
 
If he goes into your community tank he most likely won't survive the week let alone the month.
 
bobc4d said:
any suggestions on how to do this successfully? would my filter hold enough bb to prevent or reduce the time of a cycle?

As long as you don't change the media in it, you shouldn't have any kind of cycle. The majority of our bb is in the filter. There is some in your substrate, decorations and such, but non in the water. I changed my 55 gallon a couple of months ago, left the fish in, and had no cycle at all.
 
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