changing substrate

[mom2reds]

I have a ten gallon tank that i currently have two male guppies and 6 neons in with three plants. I am wanting to change the regular aquairium gravel over to eco- complete for my plants and i am just tired of the red gravel. My question is how do i do this with out stressing my fish and causing a mini cycle.
Thanks for any help you guys are great

Tess

 

[justrelax]

put your decorations, filter media and fish in a different spot for a bit. use the old tank water to keep them all in. take out your old substrate, take out water, put in new substrate, put in water. make sure to rinse the new stuff so you don't have to wait for a bunch of dust to settle. re-decorate while stabilizing the temp and then re-acclimate fish. try to match the temp right off the faucet so you don't have much difference. don't forget to add water conditioner before putting the fish in!! i was so excited at the new look when i did mine i almost forgot... most don't see a mini-cycle doing it all at once, but keep an eye on things for a while afterwards just to be sure. hth

 

[zacusmaximus]

Here's another thread about changing substrates out: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=84769

 

[evercl92]

Move decor out of the tank, and into a contained of tank water. Leave the fish in. Scoop all of the gravel out of the tank. Add the Eco-complete. Do NOT rinse it, you are not supposed to. It already contains beneficial bacteria. It will be cloudy for a bit, prob over night. Mine took 2 days to clear, but I had a 55 gal tank, and it took 2-3 days to clear on my 125 gal.

 

[justrelax]

whoops, good catch evercl92! yeah, don't rinse the eco... but why leave the fish in and re-use all that gunked up water? i took mine right out and they were fine.