Adding substrate to tank

[Ryan45]

I think that I do not have enough substate in my tank. If you look underneith it you can see light come through. I have plants but I don't think the substrate is deep enough. My question is can I add some substrate on top of the plain gravel I have now? Will it hurt the fish or if I wash it really good will it work? I was thinking about adding flourite on top of plain gravel. Will it be ok with fish already in there? Would 40 pounds on top of my old gravel work with my 55?

[bigmatt76]

its should work but just make sure that your gravel is washed really well.

matt

[Lauren]

take out some water, remove the fish. Dump it in. But if it has to be washed, rince, repeat, repeat, repeat...

[yzakj]

On that note how much stress can a glass aquarium handle? If you add too much stuff in your tank will it eventually break?? It might not because all of the force applied is pretty much equal throughou the entire area of the bottom. But if anyone has anything to say please go ahead, I'd like to know!! Oh and if you did add fluorite how well are your plants doing?

[Ryan45]

How long would I have to remove the fish for? A couple hours?

[Ryan45]

Oh and another question would I have to worry about the flourite being small and ending up on the bottom instead of the top?

[Lauren]

what kind of gravel do you have now? They will mix eventually. Can't do much to stop it.

You won't have to remove them for a few hours. Just long enough to replant your plants and allow things to settle (like any dust). It'll probably be more stressful for them to be out of the tank than in the tank with a little dust.