swaping substrate

spkdtch

spkdtch

Member
in my 30gal tank i have rubble and its a cheesy blue mixture that i just dont like, looks like a childs fish tank, so i wanna switch over to sand like in my others
question is, if i take all of the rubble out and put in sand, will that cause a crash and my tank to recycle since theres a lot of bacteria in it, there is no live rock in the tank, just a fake plant and a decoration for the fish to hide in
if i leave the decorations but remove the rubble/gravel, will it cycle and kill the fish?
 
spkdtch

spkdtch

Member
well there is only a maroon clown in there and i might move him to my bigger tank while i do it, just didnt know if i should break it down and recycle(i have the time and room to do it) or if it would just be fine and not cycle again
 
lil.guppy

lil.guppy

Active Member
If you can move your fish to another tank then that is a great idea. Try getting that sand that is already cultured because it will speed things up.
Your tank will have to cycle with new sand and no live rock
 
nofishnplease

nofishnplease

Member
i had the same thing in a 120g...i removed all of the substrate and added live sand..tank was cloudy for a couple of days but i didnt lose any fish
 
turningtim

turningtim

Active Member
You can remove half at a time. This way the old will seed the new. Or you can remove all the old and place some in nylon bags (stockings) and place it back in the tank to seed the sand.
Rinse dry sand very well before putting in the tank. Use a pc of PVC cut to length (1.5"-2" pipe with a 3" reducer as a funnel) and "shuttle" the sand to the bottom of the tank. Move slowly and you will not have a sand storm. If you choose to use live sand don't just get the prepacked bagged stuff. Get some good aqua-cultured sand from some reputable place (SWF.com)!
If you have mechanical filtration use it and keep the pads clean.
 
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