Gravel change in established tank?

[addisonnolann]

Hi all! I currently have generic pet store brand gravel in my 10 and 5 gallon tank, but I want to experiment with planted tanks and would like to switch out my gravel to sand. What would be the easiest way to do this without disturbing the fish too much? Any tips would be appreciated. Oh, and any advice on how to start up with planted tanks, such as what kind of substrate, what types of plants etc. Thank you!


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[stooker]

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[addisonnolann]

I'll probably end up slowly switching out parts of the gravel in exchange for either sand or some plant appropriate substrate. Does that sound like a good way to go?


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[fish wrangler]

It might be easier to just put all fish and decorations in a bin filled with tank water. Make sure all filter media stays wet, and swap out the gravel for the other substrate. It may seem stressful, but if you use a 10 gallon or so bin and set up a temporary home for your fish while the water in the main tank clears it shouldn't be an issue. If you do this just make sure you run a heater and filter.

For plants it depends on how far you want to take this. High tech vs low tech. For beginners anubias, java fern, and crypts are reccomended.

Substrate is something else that changes. Some people, myself included, have FloraMax, while others have Eco Complete, and some have sand. I like the floramax but wish it was a little bit more fine. It is hard to plant some things into.

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[addisonnolann]

It might be easier to just put all fish and decorations in a bin filled with tank water. Make sure all filter media stays wet, and swap out the gravel for the other substrate. It may seem stressful, but if you use a 10 gallon or so bin and set up a temporary home for your fish while the water in the main tank clears it shouldn't be an issue. If you do this just make sure you run a heater and filter.

For plants it depends on how far you want to take this. High tech vs low tech. For beginners anubias, java fern, and crypts are reccomended.

Substrate is something else that changes. Some people, myself included, have FloraMax, while others have Eco Complete, and some have sand. I like the floramax but wish it was a little bit more fine. It is hard to plant some things into.

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Thank you for answering! That seems like a good idea, probably easier than screwing with the tank with the fish in there. Hopefully this is successful! I'm definitely going low tech.


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[fish wrangler]

If you have a second filter it wouldn't hurt to use that to help clear the water in the tank faster. My 29 gallon cleared in 12 hours with 3 bags of floramax and a HOB filter.

The floramax took a while to wash though. One of its downsides

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[addisonnolann]

If you have a second filter it wouldn't hurt to use that to help clear the water in the tank faster. My 29 gallon cleared in 12 hours with 3 bags of floramax and a HOB filter.

The floramax took a while to wash though. One of its downsides

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Thanks for the tips. I'll probably pick up another filter to clear it with because I'm looking into getting another tank anyways, so I can have the filter on hand.


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[fish wrangler]

It may help reading my build http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=321895 save you some of the pain I went through

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[addisonnolann]

It may help reading my build http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=321895 save you some of the pain I went through

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Will do! Thank you so much


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