How do you change......?

[EdgarMedina1010]

Well i have two 10 gal. tanks and one of them has this ugly multy-color gravel....The tank has been running for like 2 months now...its completly cycled and now i want to change the gravel to something better ,but how do I do this?.....It does have fish in it..

 

[jcarlilesiu]

First off.... your cycle is complete. The last thing you want to do is remove the bateria, or too much of it, and cause a mini cycle. Your tank has this beneficial bacteria growing all over everything including the filter media, ornaments, glass, and yes gravel.

One of the best ways to change your media that i have found is to "re-seed" the aquarium. Basically, put the gravel you are taking out, at least some of it, into the compartment or sleeve on your filter that traditionally holds charcoal. If you already have charcoal in there, then there is no point to doing this because it already has this benificial bacteria on it too.

To actually change the gravel its easy. Lower the water to about 20%. This facilitates getting inthere to get the gravel out with out water overflowing. You can leave the fish in there, but remove all the ornaments and driftwood ect. (keep them wet in the 20% take water you took out, preferably in a clean bucket). Use a pourous material to scope out the old substrate. A heavy duty net, or similar material. Once it is all out, you will find your water very dirty. This is normal and from the mulm (fish waste, left over food) in the gravel. do a 50% water change. Clean your new gravel until it rinses clear and put into the tank. Add some kind of dechlor agent and refill with water. Reinstall ornaments drift wood ect.

For the next week, i would keep an eye on cycle threats like ammonia and nitrite. Perform partial water changes as required like you did when you were cycling. Even if you see a small micro-cycle, it will be gone soon.

HTH

 

[EdgarMedina1010]

thanks...

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Ah, the old "How do I get rid of this clown puke?" quandary .

You have a couple of other options. Either way, start with a deep gravel vac, or maybe even a few on successive days. You can move the fish to a bucket (full of water from that tank) or even into the other tank (if you have a divider or really love catching fish). Then you can completely empty the water and get rid of the gravel. Rinse the new gravel very well, then add 5 gallons of treated tap water, and then add the fish with 5 gallons of tank water (either from the bucket or the other tank). For a ten gallon you may be able to change the gravel in place without removing the fish, but it could be traumatic for them, and may actually be more work in the end.

Like jcarlilesiu said, watch for a minicycle. You may even want to cut feeding back to about half for a few days to let the cycle re-establish.

 

[DepotFish]

Clown puke, lol, I agree but have never heard of that refered to this way. Here's to getting the clown puke out and having no cycle troubles.

 

[BillD]

With a tank that small, I would use the syphon hose to remove the gravel. Syphon water and gravel into a pail. When the pail becomes full of water, you can return the water to the tank, after filtering it through a makeshift filter. I have used a 2 litre soda bottle, with the bottom removed , and filled with floss. It would be easier to fiter to a second bucket. You will get the gravel plus all the debris out of the tank, in one operation. Once the old is removed, you can add the new, after it has been well washed, a little at a time. A mini cycle shouldn't be a problem, unless the tank was grossly underfiltered. A PWC should help reduce any detritus that was missed by the gravel change.

 

[Mosaic]

I have changed substrates too many times. I moved the fish to a bucket or QT and drained most of the water. I got a dust pan to scoop out most of the gravel. The pan's handle was designed to fit around a broom handle, so it made a pretty good trough to drain off the excess water from the gravel. I used siphon tubing to get the last pieces up (but beware, the tubing won't work if you're gravel is too big, as I found). In my 55 I pulled out the gravel in sections and left the bottom bare until all of it was out, since it was a big job.

Really, I don't think there's a wrong way to do it as long as you keep your fish safe in their own water somewhere else and keep your biological media wet. Never had a problem that way, but I guess it depends on how sensitive your fish are.