redoing a tank

[prisoner1572]

i have had a few fish in my tank for a year now. i have a pair of clowns and a blennie, and a couple of snails. I am thinking about emptying the tank and moving it temporarily so i can redo the DIY wet/dry. at this same time i would like to replace my gravel and put in a sand bed. Is this safe to do because of the bacteria living in the gravel and any processes that occur in it? should i get the sand and run it with water from the tank for a while to seed it? or should i just leave the gravel.

 

[steve-s]

Existing tank water will not seed the new sand with bacteria. Remove the CC and place in the desired amount of sand. Using some new nylon stockings cut them into short lengths, tie one end, fill with the CC and tie the other end. Bury the CC softballs into the new sand. It should colonize the bacteria quite quickly. If the process is done within a few hours it should allow a majority of the bacteria to survive and reduce the chances of the tank re-cycling.

Cheers
Steve

 

[SquishyFish]

Or...just cure the sand in a rubber maid tub for a week or two. Thats what we have done in the past and it works great. Cure it like you would LR. Toss in a small rock that you know is cured along with a cocktail shrimp...2 weeks later you should have a cured sand bed. Then just change the CC out for the sand.

Squishy