Aquachic4545
Aquarium Advice Regular
I had a problem with a tank destabilizing after it was stable for three months. I decided that maybe my gravel type was the problem (went to my LPS).
They recommended a CaribSea Instant Aquarium gravel. I chose the Peace River since it's these small tiny rocks so the food is easier to remove and doesn't create such a mess down at the bottom. Basically, you don't end up with tons of stuff falling through - the food waste seems to settle around the top (per my gourmet LPS store). Also, the instant gravel has bacteria already built into it. They pre-did that. Basically, that means the cycling process is less than a week and I've done this with multiple tanks and they all seem to be very stable plus it's a whole lot easier to get the gunk out of the bottom.
Since you're already in a pickle, why not look into that gravel? You can order it from Petco online. It's not available in their stores - guess too high of an end product due to the bacteria already being in the gravel. Just move the fish into a bucket with their water - dump the old gravel - insert the new bacteria laden gravel - give it an hour to let all the bacteria stuff settle and reinsert the fish. I suspect you'll be less stressed out. I was doing water changes for months after my tank destabilized and my problem involved the gravel being too big and holding too much gunk. Now, my tanks seem darn stable.
Please don't yell at me guys but I do have a higher end gourmet store that uses this gravel in all their tanks as they claim the size of the gravel helps with cleanup. They also recommend it to their clients as it reduces fish loss. Just to warn you, look at the gravel size as they are true to their numbers. Mine is tiny. They have some so fine they look like sand!
CaribSea Dry Aragonite | Aragamax Sugar Sized Sand | Aragamax Select | Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand | Fiji Pink Reef Sand | Flamingo Reef Sand | Bermuda Pink | Grand Bahamas Biome | Super Reef
They recommended a CaribSea Instant Aquarium gravel. I chose the Peace River since it's these small tiny rocks so the food is easier to remove and doesn't create such a mess down at the bottom. Basically, you don't end up with tons of stuff falling through - the food waste seems to settle around the top (per my gourmet LPS store). Also, the instant gravel has bacteria already built into it. They pre-did that. Basically, that means the cycling process is less than a week and I've done this with multiple tanks and they all seem to be very stable plus it's a whole lot easier to get the gunk out of the bottom.
Since you're already in a pickle, why not look into that gravel? You can order it from Petco online. It's not available in their stores - guess too high of an end product due to the bacteria already being in the gravel. Just move the fish into a bucket with their water - dump the old gravel - insert the new bacteria laden gravel - give it an hour to let all the bacteria stuff settle and reinsert the fish. I suspect you'll be less stressed out. I was doing water changes for months after my tank destabilized and my problem involved the gravel being too big and holding too much gunk. Now, my tanks seem darn stable.
Please don't yell at me guys but I do have a higher end gourmet store that uses this gravel in all their tanks as they claim the size of the gravel helps with cleanup. They also recommend it to their clients as it reduces fish loss. Just to warn you, look at the gravel size as they are true to their numbers. Mine is tiny. They have some so fine they look like sand!
CaribSea Dry Aragonite | Aragamax Sugar Sized Sand | Aragamax Select | Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand | Fiji Pink Reef Sand | Flamingo Reef Sand | Bermuda Pink | Grand Bahamas Biome | Super Reef
It's just amazing what they now have out there to help set up tanks. I remember growing up and they didn't have half of the products they have now. 
