How did you change the substrate in your tank?

[Jolene85]

If I change the substrate in my tank is it going to cycle again? I know the water is going to get really dirty with everything being kicked up so I don't think keeping it in the tank would be a good idea. I'm not sure how to do it but I want to go with sand now and not gravel. Should I just leave some of the water in the tank and let everything settle back to the bottom? How have you changed the substrate in your tank?

 

[Canary bird]

I emptied 50% of the water into buckets etc to be reused then took out the fish ,I put them in one of the water buckets with the filter in !then I emptied the rest cleaned out the gravel and gunk, thoroughly washed the sand the day before , then added sand , 50% fresh water then the plants & rocks then the rest of the water , made sure the temp was the same and then added the fish and filter ... Very easy .. I was worried and kept putting it off and waiting for my husband to feel sorry for me so he would do it but in the end I did it alone, it wasn't as hard as I thought and from start to finish took a hell of a lot less time than I thought ... And my fish love it and so do I ...
It was a 55g so glad I changed to sand before I set up my 125g(ish ) wouldn't like to do that alone

 

[Old Scales]

Glad to know it Canary. I looking at a total substrate change on my 29g soon. Yikes!
OS.

 

[Canary bird]

I used swimming pool filter sand one 25kg bag was more than enough .. Infact i did 2 other tanks with what was left

 

[flitabout]

I never had any issues when I dirted mine. I drained the water, and scooped out the gravel with a kitchen spoon. I had my fish in a 5g bucket with the filter and heater running. Added the dirt, capped and water! I sorta flew through it! But I never had any cycling issues. At the time I had a very small bio load. And I reused the gravel for a cap for the dirt.

 

[Jolene85]

Alright thanks guys. That's what I had running through my head on how I was going to do it. Im worried about stressing the fish out too. I'm not going to do it right away Cus we just had something going on in the tank. Everyone looks fine not but I'm waiting for it to strike again. I just know if I go messing around I'm going to make them sick again.

 

[mrvincent]

Substrate change doesn't make cycle if you have good cycled filtration. 90% of BBs are in filter bio media.

 

[Jolene85]

Well I was thinking of changing out the water that's why I though it might cycle again. I need to get a test kit before I change the gravel out so I know if I'm having spikes.

 

[mrvincent]

Keep at least 30% of old water... Anyway, if you change 100% water, it will remain cycled if you keep your BBs in the filter alive. Put your filter on another tank while playing with your current tank. Don't rinse filter bios under the tap, that will kill ALL the cycle.

Make sure you unchlorine all the new water before running the filter on this tank.