I changed from gravel to sand (have pics)

[cougargirl50]

We did it. Changed from the gravel to pool filter sand. Took us a good bit of the day yesterday and thank god my hubby was there to help me. Of course he made me do most of the work but he was there to back me up. I really like it with the filter sand. It looks alot better. And the gravel only cost me $5.99 for 50lb at our local PSS. Our Lowe's and Home Depot doesnt sell filter sand. It was messy and I couldn't wait till I was done. My water was horrible cloudy. I took pics of the process of how we did it, and the cloudy water and the whole before during and after thing. It sounds easy to do but its alot of work. But worth every hour of it. Now I want to get some low light plants, any suggestions? And if possible I want to stay away from having to use CO2 or whatever it is. So here is some pics, they are alittle dark but hope you get the idea. There is 2 different colored bulbs in the tank right now. So no your eyes arent playing tricks on ya.......

They arent the greatest pics but you'll get the idea

 

[IceH2O]

I prefer sand too, just looks more natural.

I used Quickrete Medium Grade Sand for my tank. It has been rearranged but you can see how this brand of sand looks looks.

 

[nitrous]

i did the same thing, i had blue gravel before my sand and i woke uyp eveyr morning and i didnt like the look of the tank so i completely re did it

 

[Zagz]

Looks good! I switched all my tanks except the goldfish one to sand too.

 

[nitrous]

ya sand is far more cheaper also. around here is runs 50 lbs for 5 dollars which is good for my new 55 gallon tank. gravel runs 12 dollars for 25 lbs so i would need maybe 3 bags since i like it deep and to have extra so i would save 26 dollars with sand!

 

[DeFeKt]

wow looks 110% !!

 

[shaunakadub]

Could I ask how you went about changing it? I've been thinking about switching to a smaller substrate but I'm not sure what kind of work it entails.

 

[DeFeKt]

I would recommend taking the old stuff out.. and putting the new stuff in

 

[nitrous]

for me i took everything out and scooped it out with my fish net, since it was big gravel it just stayed in teh net and scooped right out without a problem and i just dumped the sand in there and it settled just fine

 

[donttaptheglass]

How were the water params after the change? Planning on doing it myself, but despite the reassurances of everyone in here telling me that I won't start a new cycle over, I still worry about it.

 

[shaunakadub]

Also, did you have to move the fish to another tank during the change?

 

[Guest]

i love sand, i started my 10 gallon planted with sand and i think that all of my future tanks will definitely be sand and not gravel. Im leaving my 55 gallon the way it is becuase it'd be way to much trouble to change it, however all of my future tanks will be sand as well.

 

[Japola44]

I'm planning to change the sand in my 55gal to pool filter sand. I am also moving the tank so i am going to put my fish in a 40 gal tub with the heater and filter to keep the bacteria alive in my canister. Then I will siphon out all the water and sand over a cheap towel into my yard. I am going to use the towel as a filter to catch the majority of the sand and then proably throw it away. Then move the 55gal to its new home add pfs, then water, then heater and filter, and last but not least my fish! hopefully it wont have too much of a ammonia or nitrite spike...