Gravel to sand change!!! Pictures included

[TheFishBoss97]

+1 on MTS

if interested i sell them @ $0.10 a piece


for your filter...im sure there is some sand in it...i'd just dry it out...and shake the next day...there will prob. be super tiny pieces coming out...then rinse...and start it should work

congrats on the change though

 

[mykidsmylife]

If you don't have MTS...just take a chop stick or something similar and poke it through the sand at intervals. You don't want to really "stir" it but gently poke/mix it. You just need to do this every few weeks or so until you get some MTS in there. The nice thing about sand is excess food and waste just lays on top of the surface for the most part. Just take your gravel vac and "hover" it over the sand and it will pick up the debris. It might take a bit of practice not to be sucking up a bunch of sand but actually its MUCH quicker and easier than digging a gravel vac through your gravel.

GOOD LUCK!!! And yes, we want to help you....just didn't see your post until now.

 

[stormywendyann]

Wow!! I am new to this site. I impressed by a twelve year old doing a substrate change. I would get frustrated at what you did. Congratulations on a good job.

 

[Ptrick125]

Ok thanks, that should help


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[Ptrick125]

Thanks again, instead of mts I would rather have a peacock eel. I've always wanted one, I have plenty of sand for one and my cichlids shouldn't get to it, I have 2 plecos in there with them. I currently have;

1 yellow lab
1 hornet/bumblebee cichlid
1 albino mbuna

The cichlids color has really brightened since the change, my yellow lab dug a cave today and my hornet has had one (my albino has ALWAYS had her PVC pipes since I got the PVC. Recently she's let the plecos clean it (last week my brother have my cichlids a guppy and it went by her PVC and she ate it WHOLE!) The sand is finally cleared up!!!!!!!


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[thebrandon]

Peacock eels wont do a very good job at keeping the substrate mixed up like mts will. Not all peacocks burrow them selves into the sand either. Mine will rarely ever burrow itself into the sand now that's it's bigger and braver. If you have your parents take you to a petshop you should be able to find some. Most stores are willing to give them away for free, or at a cost that is next to nothing.

Congrats on the change! Just a little tip for if you ever do it again, or start up another tank with sand. Rinse the sand in a bucket so the lighter particles go away, then once you have the sand in your tank, fill it up, then do a large water change. Then refill with a hose/python(if you can) with the end of the hose going into a bowl or on a plate with low pressure. This will help make sure the cloudiness is minimal and your fish and filter will thank you too!

 

[Ptrick125]

Ok, il try to get both. Can they live together?


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[Ptrick125]

Yay! I convinced my dad to stop by the LFS and let me get a striped peacock eel! It is awesome, it is about 5 inches and when I put it in there it burrowed itself by a rock. You can see its eye looking out. I'm also glad because my cichlids ignored it from the beginning, no gang initiation like they normaly do.


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[Ptrick125]

What should I name the eel? Here are some picks that I took at 10:17. They are nocturnal and it was swimming around, that thing is AWESOME!
Sorry about Rez, it was taken right next to the acrylic and also it was a weird angle (the eel was in the corner)

I bought some freeze-dried bloodworms, are those fine? (my crowntail Betta and his friends in my 5.5 approve of them)


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[Ptrick125]

For more info on my pets and my daily life go to ptrick125.tumblr.com


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