Changing over to pfs..

[TaiN]

Hello,

I have a 29 gallon with general petsmart gravel. I kept reading that cory's like a fine substrate so I kept watching them and they would just loose the flakes or pellets in the gravel. Reading everyone talk about sand I thought about giving that a shot.

Is there any good way to change the top layer of gravel over to sand with fish in the tank? I know the sand will be in my filters is that bad for bacteria in there?

I probably will do just alittle at a time not the whole tank or does that matter.

Thanks

 

[MABJ]

Ive never done it, but I think you might have to move them and the filter to the hospital tank. You would then drain, remove gravel, put in sand and then put the filter back... In my opinion this would cause a mini-cycle. You'd have to keep up on testing.

 

[AquaOne]

I would say you want to shut down the tank and move your stock elsewhere.
The moment you start removing gravel, there will be loads of fish-waste in it and the fish won't go a bundle on that !
Do your fish a favour and do the right thing.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Hello,

I have a 29 gallon with general petsmart gravel. I kept reading that cory's like a fine substrate so I kept watching them and they would just loose the flakes or pellets in the gravel. Reading everyone talk about sand I thought about giving that a shot.

Is there any good way to change the top layer of gravel over to sand with fish in the tank? I know the sand will be in my filters is that bad for bacteria in there?

I probably will do just alittle at a time not the whole tank or does that matter.

Thanks

The PFS will sift thru the gravel and mix with it, eventually it'll end up at the bottom of the layers (more or less). As for ending up in your filter, I don't have that issue at all. PFS is heavy enough that it doesn't float when disturbed and sinks right back down to the bottom.

 

[TaiN]

Im not opposed to moving the fish but it would to a 10 g. How long before moving them back?

I guess your saying I should just take out nearly or all of the gravel for sand?

Thanks for replies.

 

[subliminalanarchy]

I've done this a bunch of times now. This is how I've done it.

If you can swirl around your gravel (really well) without the water looking really dirty then you should be able to leave the fish in the whole time without any problems.

If you tend to slack off on gravel vacuuming, or if you have really sensitive fish, then it would be best to take them out of the tank for a few hours when you change the substrate.

I usually just gravel vac the tank really well the day before changing the substrate. Then rinse off the sand really really well. When you're ready to change the substrate, use a net to get all the gravel out and dump it into the trash or a bucket. Turn off the filter. Put the pre-rinsed sand into plastic bags and release the sand at the bottom of the tank (to reduce clouding). Or you could use a long funnel, or anything that will bring the sand to the bottom without clouding the water. Wait an hour or so and you should be able to turn on the filter again and reintroduce your fish.

 

[AquaOne]

TaiN, Sublim has the answer, but you have to be thorough with gravel cleaning before you attempt this. Think of it another way... if you were in the local swimming-pool and it suddenly became somewhat cloudy with a 'certain odour', you would want to get out right ?
Good luck with the task, it would be nice to see some pictures of the finished project.

 

[TaiN]

Thanks again for the reply's. You know I saw the other thread about silica based sand not being good and found that what I had purchased was the bad stuff. Algae problems and glass cutting gills? I quickly found out that by calling around everyone carried the stuff. Can't get regular sand anymore? lol without paying lfs prices for small amounts, anyways seems easier to just get really small gravel.

 

[spoonman]

I have also changed several tanks from gravel to PFS. Everything from a 10g to a 240g. Take the fish out and put them in a tub with an airstone. Keep the filter media wet (very important). drain the tank, remove the decor and old substrate, rinse the PFS and add to the tank, put decor back in and fill with temp matched, dechlored water (running the water over a rock or something else to keep it from stirring up the sand and making the water cloudy), start up filter and put fish back in. You may have a minicycle at most, usually I dont. Also, if you have an HOB filter, make sure the intake is at least 3" off the surface of the sand. It will suck iin little particles of sand if it is too close. Hope this helps!

P.S. Any pool supply store (Leslies is a common one) will have PFS.

 

[TaiN]

I have also changed several tanks from gravel to PFS. Everything from a 10g to a 240g. Take the fish out and put them in a tub with an airstone. Keep the filter media wet (very important). drain the tank, remove the decor and old substrate, rinse the PFS and add to the tank, put decor back in and fill with temp matched, dechlored water (running the water over a rock or something else to keep it from stirring up the sand and making the water cloudy), start up filter and put fish back in. You may have a minicycle at most, usually I dont. Also, if you have an HOB filter, make sure the intake is at least 3" off the surface of the sand. It will suck iin little particles of sand if it is too close. Hope this helps!

P.S. Any pool supply store (Leslies is a common one) will have PFS.

ok sweet there is a Leslies within 20 miles of me. ok I'll give it one more shot. Hopefully I can get up there soon. I'll try to take pics of the process.

Thanks everyone