How to change substrate

[henry1245]

Hi all,

I am thinking of changing my substrate from gravel to sand (i have white gravel and I'm fed up of vacuuming the gravel when it turns a bit brown) also I have a school of corys who (so I'm told) prefer sand.

How do I go about switching?
I was thinking of draining 50% of the water, scraping out all the gravel, then carefully pouring in the sand (washed of course) down one end (making sure not to hit any fish) then smoothing it out.

Is that the right way?

Thanks
Henry

 

[meegosh]

I would remove all your fish prior to digging the substrate out. You will stress the fish out horribly if you do not remove them. Also, once you start stirring that gravel up you won't be able to see very well.

 

[skywhitney]

I've seen some people use a funnel and large hose system to get the sand to the bottom. I'm not sure how well this works but it seems good in theory.

 

[henry1245]

Can I leave the fish in a bucket while I make the switch? (I only have one tank!)

 

[meegosh]

Yes, that's exactly how I did it when I swapped substrates. Just be sure to keep your filter media wet if it is going to take you a while.