? for Up North Hermit about DSB

[teetee]

Hello UNH, recently you answered one of my posts regaring DSB conversion. You told me how you removed your CC in thirds. I like that approach & plan to do the same.
I do have a few questions, however. 1) Did you take the fish and water out? 2) If not, were the fish bothered by the cloudiness & floating particles from the sand? 3) Did your tank remain cloudy for long? and 4) Did the UGF plates come off easily? For some reason I recall the plates being quite the bother to dismantle.
Thanks for your guidance, I am trying to plan this project out well. T.T.

 

[up north hermit]

Hi Teetee,
I did not take the fish out or empty the water, although when you remove the CC alot of water volume will also be removed, so have some fresh SW on hand to replace the loss.
The fish were not bothered by the cloudiness or floating particulate, no more than they would be in the wild during the natural occcurance of a storm.
The tank did not remain cloudy for more than a day, if even that.
I did not have an UGF, sorry if you were mislead. But I don't perceive this as a problem.
Just take your time, and be slow. Let the tank settle between disturbances, and I think you'll be fine. Yes, it's a big job. But well worth the effort.
HTH
Hermit

 

[bobber]

To help out a little, when removing the ugf plates, remove them slowly as to not disturb the junk under the plates. This material must be siphoned of as well. Take the powerheads off the lift tubes, then remove the lift tubes, then the CC, then the plate. Then lay the sand down. I agree with hermit. My fish were not affected by the change and my tank was cloudy for only the night. By morning it was clear. Tale your time, do it right the first time. You will love the difference it will make. Didn't mean to butt in, just wanted to help.--Bob

 

[up north hermit]

Thanks for butting Bobber!!
Hermit

 

[beth]

I would say that it depends on the kind of fish you got, and how skiddish they are. For instance, I'm in the conversion process myself to dsb and, I know that the hippo I have would have probably gone into shock and died on me if I had not removed him to a QT before removing the cc and ugf, etc.

 

[teetee]

Thanks for your input folks. Luckily I have a hardy lot of fish and I think they will be able to deal with the change, besides the tank, being 6' long & heavily decorated, will offer plenty of hiding spaces for the fish to retreat in. I plan this adventure sometime next month. T.T.