Switching Substrate in an Already established Tank

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

hey again!

I am getting tired of my rainbow colored gravel, and would like something more natural.

I heard pool filter sand is a prefect grain size and wont cloud water.

I currently use a HOB filter.

Should i just cup Honeycomb and then take out the gravel? Wont that disturb the bacteria? Or would my tank retain the cycle because of the filter media?


Thanks!

[aokashi]

the bacteria should already be in the HOB... hust do frequent water changes if the tank goes through a mini cycle. you can dump all your gravel.
make sure you pour all the sand you need in a bucket first (do this in the garden!!!!)
and blast with a pressure washer/ strong hose. pour out the water and any sirling debris before it settle by gently tipping the bucket ovwr. the larger grain should quickly settle whilst the smaller dust particle will be pour out...

repeat the process until it take very little time (~5 seconds) for the sand to settle.

now you can take honeycomb out,
leave filter to run in a container of tank water
pour out the water in your tank.
dump gravel
add sand
grab a zip lock bag... lay it on top of the sand. and re-add water, pouring onto the bag.

add water conditioner, heater etc.
add filter....
acclimatize fish
YAY sand tank!

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

thanks! Could i add some MTS? How often should i sir the sand? I heard it keeps tanks a little neater, and i LOVE the look of it :)

[aokashi]

sure! add mts!

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

how many would you recommend? I dont want any babies!

[starrlamia]

MTS reproduce asexually, if you add some you will most likely get babies. The trick to keeping snail populations down is to avoid overfeeding.

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

ok, i will skip the MTS for now.

I couldnt get the pool filter sand, so are there any good sand at petsmart or petco that wont alter my water chemistry???

how often should i stir the sand?

[aokashi]

Lol! you dont want babies XD that's actually very impossible :P I guess you will have to stir manually.
Personally I have no idea why everyone has a snail phobia :) I love all my snails equally. and they do not reproduce very fast at all