changing gravel

[Wildiana]

how will this effect my tank?

i have a established tank with 2 filters, 20g tank with a AC 30 and a AC 50

has blue and white gravel which i want to change for a more solid color.


can this be done with out disturbing ALL of the bacterial colony?

 

[snakeskinner]

depends on the fishload as well as some other variables. I've never done this so it's hard to say. do you have another tank you can move the fish to while you do this? If you can add the fish to another already established tank and then slowly add them back I don't see a problem. maybe someone else on here has already tried something like this, KYle

 

[Kasakato]

Change half of the gravel at a time. Il try to find a list of what I did when I changed my gravel.

 

[Kasakato]

Ok I found it
HTH
What I did is:
1. A few weeks before the change, I put extra filter media in the filter to get more bacteria build up
2. I took out the fish and put them into another tank. This extra tank can be keep it the dark to keep the stress levels low
3. I took out all of the old gravel and put about 2 cups of it into a nylon stock and tossed that into the tank
4. Add the CLEAN new gravel and put the fish back in.

-You want to take out the fish becase there will be a big pop storm when you start to move the gravel.
- You might want to lower the water lever to about 50% because adding/talking out the gravel may splash some water

 

[Wildiana]

pretty good info thanks,

i do have a 30g already established, so yes i could put them in there.

thanks again.