Is it possible to change tank decor?

[Ursi]

At the moment in my 260L tank I have flora base, I think that's what it's called, it's a brown subtrate that is meant to be good for live plants.. The only problem being I REALLY don't like it. I want to change my base to black gravel ideally, but don't know how to go about doing it as I am not able to remove all my fish.

I find it hard to clean as it gets stuck in my gravel cleaner, and I just don't like how it looks.

Does anyone know if it is possible for me to change it, and how I would go about doing it?

 

[librarygirl]

You can change it, I've changed substrates before although it might be easier to remove the fish when doing so. You can do it with fish in there but you'll have to move slowly and it could be a bit cumbersome and pretty stressful for the fish. Can you just add the new substrate on top of the flora base? That might be easier.

As I said I've never done it with fish in the tank but I'd lower the water level some so you can work easier, add some Stress Coat to the tank for the fish, remove the decor, plants etc so you can get to the bottom easier and just work slowly.

 

[Ursi]

I could put the fish in a bucket.. That's the only option I would have. I have thought of adding the gravel over the top but when I clean the base it would all get mixed in and I wanted to lose the brown..

I've not even attempted it yet as I don't want to stress my fish out too much, and also I don't want to make to water spike from it.. I was also considering whether I could take most of the brown out and put more black in so that it's mainly black? Though this will more than likely cause the same amount of stress as doing the whole thing?

 

[Ilovemyfishies]

My tank looked horrible, so we just pulled out the plants and added fresh substrate on the existing on and put in new plants. The fish were still in the tank and it was funny how they all went to one side, but they are so much happier now with their new tank. Another thing that's really strange is, when we would walk to the tank they would be a little skiddish, but now that we were playing in the tank while they were there, they realized we weren't out to harm them and they now come up to the front of the tank when we come by to say hello to us. They are so precious.

 

[Ursi]

Yeah whenever I get new ones theyre skittish and within a few weeks come up to the glass and if I ever put my hand in my tank they nibble my hands constantly especially the mollies. They're amazing creatures I love each one I own