Switching to bare bottom

[Shanny]

Hi everyone!

Inspired by "Ryukins" tank I am going to switch from fine gravel to bare bottom. It's a 37g.

My plan is to move the boys into a 5g bucket and fill another 5g bucket with tank water and put the filter media into it. Then I'll drain the tank and take out the gravel. Then I'll fill the tank back up saving room for the 10g from the buckets. Since the filter media will be safe in the old water it shouldn't put my tank back into a mini cycle right. The vast majority of the bb live in the filter media right?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Sharpchick]

Hi everyone!

Inspired by "Ryukins" tank I am going to switch from fine gravel to bare bottom. It's a 37g.

My plan is to move the boys into a 5g bucket and fill another 5g bucket with tank water and put the filter media into it. Then I'll drain the tank and take out the gravel. Then I'll fill the tank back up saving room for the 10g from the buckets. Since the filter media will be safe in the old water it shouldn't put my tank back into a mini cycle right. The vast majority of the bb live in the filter media right?

Thanks for any advice!

The majority of the BB do live in the filter. But if I were you, I'd check my water chemistry daily for a week. A lot of bare bottom afficionados are surprised at the amount of filtering the substrate does.

 

[jlk]

What type of filtration do you have presently? You may want to consider adding another filter with lots of media. Run it for a few weeks before removing the gravel. This will help to compensate for the bacteria removed with the gravel. Other than that, just keep a close eye on your parameters after removing it or remove it gradually over a few weeks to minimize a possible spikes. I know this tank was a pain to cycle!

 

[Taiken5968]

The majority of the BB do live in the filter. But if I were you, I'd check my water chemistry daily for a week. A lot of bare bottom afficionados are surprised at the amount of filtering the substrate does.

You can also put an air pump with a bubble stone under your media. It will help keep the bacteria alive longer an better.

 

[Shanny]

I've got a fluval U4 which is a 4 stage, submersed filter. I've been thinking of adding another now that the boys are getting bigger so I guess now is the perfect time. And yes, it was a pain to cycle! Lol

I kinda figured it might affect the tank more than I hoped if I remove it but I'm hoping it recovers quickly.

I didn't know the air stone helps the bb when in the bucket! I'll have to do that from now on as I always remove the media to a bucket during the weekly pwc since mine is a submersed filter.

 

[ryukins]

Hi Shanny great to hear you decided to try BB. I have a canister filter so it has lots of media inside and I was able to remove all the gravel in one shot. I would suggest taking out half the gravel initially and then checking the water params after a day or so and if everything is ok then continue removing the remaining gravel. You and your fish will love BB

 

[Shanny]

So my U4 has 260gph output. If I want 10x filtration I need another 110gph to make it up to 370gph on my 37g tank right? I'm guessing that that is what is meant by 10x filtration. I was thinking of a Aquaclear 30 which has 150gph. Has anyone ever had one of these? All the reviews I've read have been good. I like the fact that you use whatever you want as media.

 

[Shanny]

Hi Shanny great to hear you decided to try BB. I have a canister filter so it has lots of media inside and I was able to remove all the gravel in one shot. I would suggest taking out half the gravel initially and then checking the water params after a day or so and if everything is ok then continue removing the remaining gravel. You and your fish will love BB

That is a great idea! I'll take it out in sections. Thanks!