changing substate. please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FiShDuDe9]

im currently changing my gravel to play sand. so far i have taken my fish out and have put them in a cooler with my filter running on it. im going to save 2 more 5g buckets of my water and dump the rest out. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I NEED????? I DONT CARE ABOUT THE 6 MONTH CYCLE CRAP!!!

THX

 

[meegosh]

As long as you are adding some decor back (plants, rocks, etc) and the filter (and media) have been kept wet, you will be fine. Just monitor your parameters over the next few weeks closely. Watch for any ammonia spikes and do water changes accordingly.

Not sure what you mean by 6 month cycle crap? Also, saving the water is pointless. I would just use fresh, dechlorinated, water. The bacteria you want to avoid cycling your tank again reside in your filter, substrate, decorations, etc, not the water column itself.

 

[mgamer20o0]

agree with meegosh. just lower the water down or take it out and change it out.

 

[FiShDuDe9]

meegosh is it necessary to keep any water in the tank while putting the new sand in the tank? and how long should i wait until i put my fish back in???

thx

 

[mgamer20o0]

not necessary i found it helpful though. you can add them right away but i wait until a couple hours until clears up some. make sure you have a prefilter on the filter so it doesnt suck up any sand.

 

[meegosh]

I had my filter running about an hour after I added the water with a prefilter on it. I drained mine completely, filled it with sand and then added water. It will be hazy for a while.

 

[WhiteDevil]

t will be hazy for a while if you dont rinse the sand, I just set up my 2nd sand bed FW tank about 5 weeks ago, it helped so much to rinse the sand first( didnt with my 26 jsut did a substrate change like you, I did WC's for 3 months straight 3 times a week to get the water clear.

I suggest rinsing the sand very well till the water is clear, after rinsing and installing, wait an hour, turn the filter on with a prefilter( for cheap insurance reasons this time) by midday the following day the water will be clear.

 

[spoonman]

I am also going to be doing the same thing in the coming weeks and was advised to keep the intakes for my filters up away from the sand to keep from sucking up the sand and jamming the impellers. Please keep this thread updated, I will be very interested how it goes and what tips will help.

 

[FiShDuDe9]

i did the substrate change last night and it seems to be going well. the water is a little cloudy tho even after cleaning the sand but im not sure if i cleaned it good enough. all my fish seem fine as well

 

[spoonman]

Good to hear dude! Any advice? Did you completely drain the tank and then pour in the rinsed sand? Did you use playsand or pool filter sand?

 

[FiShDuDe9]

i completely emptied the tank and then put some new water in. then i put all the sand in. and used a plate when putting the hose in so it did stir everything up. and i used playsand.

 

[mgamer20o0]

its fine. there is nothing you can do to clean it so much that it wont cloud. after a while it settles down.

 

[BigJim]

I just switched over to play sand from gravel this past weekend. I got my sand from Home Depot and it was really dusty. I thought I washed it pretty well, but it still made the tank all hazy. I changed the water a few times, mostly to play with my new python, and it helped some. After the sand settled, I started my powerfilter that I stuffed with two cages full of filter foam and activated carbon. I let that run for a few hours, then I started putting the fish back in the tank. They seem to like the new sand, especially the catfish.

 

[meegosh]

Yes, it is really neat to watch the catfish sift through the sand. I really like my Kuhli loaches and watching them dig through the sand. It also makes cleaning a lot easier, no need to shove the vac into the gravel. Just give it a swirl and all the gunk comes up.

Glad to hear everything is working out for you guys. Now all we need is some pictures!!!!

 

[FiShDuDe9]

after changing to sand i made a ghetto prefilter out of a sponge found in my house. i noticed my filter is not running as strong as before because the prefilter doesn't let as much water through. also is it to early to change the pads in my filter????

 

[meegosh]

You may want to find a better prefilter then. It shouldn't slow your flow down noticeably. I would wait a bit to change the filter media. What type of filter media do you use?

I use polyfiber for my filters, I have an aquatech 5-15g (walmart kit) and an aquaclear 50. I got the polyfiber from joannes fabrics in a big bag for like 5 bucks. It has lasted me well over a year and a half (a year supplying two filters).

I just cut and stuff the polyfiber to fit the media basket in my aquaclear and fill my aquatech's container. When I swapped substrates I took out half and replaced half with new about a month after I did the swap (I rinsed the polyfiber at water changes). Then I changed the other half. Next time around I changed the whole thing. I don't typically throw away the polyfiber when I do water changes, I simply rinse it in the tank water I remove. I will use one piece of it until it basically falls apart.

If you are running activated carbon for some reason you can throw the bag on top of the polyfiber. I had to do this a few months back when I added my new driftwood and it leeched some tannins, it cleared it up in about a week. Hope it helps!

 

[severum mama]

What kind of sponge did you use to make a prefilter? Many kitchen/household type sponges are undesirable for use because they are treated with antibacterial agents. Not good for your biofilter.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Use AquaClear sponge block, cut them in half tear a hole in em and wrap them with a filter bag or pantyhose.

 

[FishEggs]

i just use polyfiber cut to size, wrap around my finger and sew the 2 ends together.

 

[FiShDuDe9]

thats a good idea im going to try panty hose!!!
thx
i took pics with my new sand. i will post them in a liitle bit.