Best method for changing substrate

[bmg213]

I have a base substrate that I am fed up with. It was supposed to help my live plants, but all it does is create a mucky mud-like substance that clogs up my filter. I would like to get it out of there, but it is under about 1 1/2" of regular gravel.

What is the best method for removing and replacing the substrate? It is a 37 gal. tank, and I do have a 10 gal that I have used before as a temporary home to 2-3 fish at a time. Would it be horrible to keep about 18-20 fish in such a small tank for a few hours while I worked on the tank?

My thought is that Id like to keep the gravel as to preserve the bactieria and such.

 

[TankGirl]

This is going to be tricky. You are having trouble with some laterite, I presume? The main difficulty with changing substrate is that you often disturb enough beneficial bacteria to cause a mini-cycle. It is often best to do it in stages, a little at a time, rather than all at once. I have cycled a tank when I took out the gravel, even though it had a biowheel on the filter and was a well established tank.

The other option is to remove the fish (whether they will go in the 10gal together depends on what kind they are, but really any clean bucket or rubbermaid container will do for a temporary home) and take the tank completely down to remove the gravel. Then set it up new again and use BioSpira to dose your tank with the bacteria you need to avoid a cycle.

 

[Menagerie]

You can house all the fish together for a few hours.
As for best methods--if you can suction out the substrate, do so. I just changed over a sand tank to a gravel and a gravel to sand . The sand came out easy, but the gravel from the other tank was a PITA. For the gravel, I scooped it out with a strainer and put in a bucket.

 

[bmg213]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=6&pCatId=4882

Above is the substrate I am using, it is called FloraBase. Ever since I have put it in, I get a slime/muddy substance that covers stuff and gunks up the filter. I was thinking of changing to Eco-Complete with gravel on top of that. Do I NEED the gravel on top of it or can I just go with it alone?

Oh, and thanks for the pointers about removing the substrate...I know it is going to be a pain, but your comments should at least minimize the difficulties. Thanks!

 

[grimlock3000]

I recently did a full substrate swap on my 10g w/o an issue. The biggest thing you need to look out for is losing too much of the bacteria at once. I did this with regular gravel, so it may be useless with a muddy type of substrate on the bottom. First I would say put some prefilters on your filters to keep the muddy stuff out of them. With my swap, I never had a detecable spike of ammonia or nitrites aftwewards. Here is how I did it:

1.) Everytime you do a water change for a few weeks, remove some of the substrate. Try to get about 20% of the substrate out at a time. Once you get to about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of substrate across the tank you will be OK. This process causes the bacteria to find other places to live.
2.) Let the filters get full of bacteria-filled waste. Mature filter material is crucial for good bio filtration and also help with the mechanical filtration as well. You can start building up gunk in the filter once you start removing substrate.
3.) Once you are ready to make the switch, vacuum the gravel in the whole tank to remove as much waste as possible. Taking out about 40% of the water will be good, do not replace the water yet.
4.) Place all tank plants and ornaments in the old tank water.
5.) Scoop out substrate with a net/hand/whatever, once you get the substrate up off the bottom, shake the net around, some waste will come out (do not do with sand/mud). Once you get it out of the water, let it drip into the tank for a few seconds. The tank will turn into a cloudy mess at this point, but keep moving forward. Keep and eye out for stupid fish during this time. With the mature filter material in both of my filters, the tank cleared up pretty nicely in about an hour. Having less water in the tank helps for this step too, as your filters can cycle through the tank water faster, and you do not have to worry about spilling water out of the tank or anything.
6.) Once the tank is cleared up, add new substrate in small ammounts. Put the new substrate in a net, lower it into the tank, and dump it so no fish get in the way.
7.) Refill tank with treated water.
8.) Re-add plants/decorations.
9.) Your fish will likely be stressed at this point from all the commotion, so just turn off the tank light and put them to sleep for the day.

 

[madasafish]

Did you wash the florabase first? I've never used it, and I am aware that you're *not* supposed to wash some substrates, but it sounds like this one should be washed/rinsed heavily before adding it to the aquarium...

Just a few notes on your choice of replacement substrate...

The substrate au courant[/] here is Eco-complete. It's taken the site by storm, especially since it doesn't need to be rinsed before you put it in the aquarium. That seems to be the best substrate to buy nowadays.

I use Fluorite and Fluorite red, and have had great results. With fluorite and eco-complete, you also don't have to worry about layering your substrate, and disturbing the layers when you clean the tank.

 

[bmg213]

Wow, thanks Grimlock...Im all messed up from taking cold medication right now, so I cant actually process half of that info, but it looks very detailed! Ill re-read it tonight

Madasafish...no, I didnt wash it first but you may be right, that may have prevented my problem.