Sand questions

[minx]

I'm thinking of converting my gravel substrate in my 29g to sand.

Given that the tank is established now, I'm wondering how to go about this.

The easiest thing I can think of would be to add a 1/2" layer of sand on top of the existing gravel. Would I be able to do this without removing the fish? The idea would be to do this in stages - perhaps do one corner of the tank & leave it to settle for a couple of days & progress round the tank that way.

Any ideas where I can get proper aquarium sand? I've seen some places selling coral sand for marine tanks - is this suitable for freshwater too?

Any help gratefully welcomed!!

[tyler]

coral sand will bring up your ph. pool filter sand, sand blasting (silica) sand and play sand (as long as it doesn't contain lime) are all acceptable. put the sand in a pillow case and rinse it thoroughly before putting it in your tank. some people like to do one half, wait a bit and do the other so the bacteria has a chance to catch up. i helped a friend do it and we just did the whole bottom at the same time. we scooped out all the rocks, vacuumed up any crap on the bottom and dumped the well rinsed sand in with no ill effects. a trick some people use to minimize clouding is to put the sand into bags and then open the bags towards the bottom of the tank and dump it out, or pour it into two liter bottles and do the same thing.