# Substrate Switch - Gravel To Sand, Ive done it, not all went well.



## JacobL (Aug 3, 2010)

I am by far no expert on this stuff, but I have switched from gravel to sand before. You didn't say what kind of sand you are getting or what/if any plants you have, I think a lot of these answers would depend on those things. Sand can damage impellers if it is floating around in the water so just wait until it settles down before turning the filters on. When I switched out my gravel for sand I drained water about half way down and tried to scoop the gravel out. It was flourite and all that did was turn the water a very dark brown. So depending on the type of gravel you have you may want to just empty all of the water, it was much easier once I did. Then you just scoop it out, there will be tiny pieces left on the bottom that are really hard to get out. I was never able to get 100% of it out. I really like sand, especially pool filter sand. It looks really nice and is really cheap. You will loose some beneficial bacteria when you remove the gravel, it shouldn't be a problem if your filter is well established and your tank is not too overstocked. Oh wait, I see now that you have a 40 gallon. You may want to look into how big clown loaches can get, they will eventually grow too big for a tank that size.


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## SimoUK (Jul 11, 2010)

Thanks for the reply. This is what I madethis thread for, what kind of sand do you think that I should get? The plants i currently have are, 4x Java Fern 3x vallis, and a large area of java moss. And yes iam aware what size clown loaches grow too  hope this helps to narrow it down


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## JacobL (Aug 3, 2010)

SimoUK said:


> Thanks for the reply. This is what I madethis thread for, what kind of sand do you think that I should get? The plants i currently have are, 4x Java Fern 3x vallis, and a large area of java moss. And yes iam aware what size clown loaches grow too  hope this helps to narrow it down


Hope I didn't offend you or anything with clown loach, some people are completely unaware. :smile: My suggestion is pool filter sand, it is readily available at home improvement stores like Home Depot, and is cheap. I think it was something around $5 for a pretty big bag. I really have no experience with clown loaches, so I do not know what kind of substrate is best for them. In my experience however, sand is great for pretty much any species of fish. Better than gravel for the cories also. Seems like you will have no issue with your plants either.


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## essabee (Oct 7, 2006)

Substituting one substrate for another is virtually resetting your tank. You will have to remove your filter, and your livestock and plants along with most of your water into a holding tank. Change the substrate and return your filter, livestock, plants and water back to the tank and top up with conditioned water.

If you wish to plant plants in the sand substrate you need it 2" deep at least, otherwise 1" will suffice. Cost, maintenance, and availability wise - play sand out does any of the other sands. Your other choice are silica white sand (nightmare of keeping clean) or the black moon sand.

Find out from the measurement of the base of your tank and the depth of substrate how many liters of sand you will need and multiply that with 2.25 to find the weight of the sand in Kgs. The weight varies a little with the coarseness and fineness of the sand - the coarse being lighter.


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## SimoUK (Jul 11, 2010)

Ok. i went to a maidenhead this morning ang got some medium sand.


And well..... that was an experience. 

God help me, i was so tempted to quit half way through, It did not go to plan at all, ill add some pictures later on.

Right. I used two polystyrene boxes, one very large one, and one littler one, In the large on i put all the fish that I knew for certain were going to get along, I.E. all tetras, my angelfish, my male gourami and corys. In the smaller one i put the ones that i thought might have a squabble with the ones in the bigger box, I.E. My FEMALE gourami, and my two clown loaches. Unfortunately, there were 3 or 4 tetra, that were just impossible to catch, it may sound harsh that i left them in there but there was no way of catching those with a net in a 40 gallon. 

So, i took the water down a little further, and proceeded to remove the gravel, now i pride myself just like all of us on keeping my tank clean, and under this subject comes gravel cleaning, well, god help me xD after removing a couple of jugs full of gravel, it was shocking to me how much dirt was actually under there, i mean tons, maybe this is just my bad maintenence i dunno, but it was ALOT, after doing about half of the gravel, the water was.. BROWN bordering on BLACK, at this point i felt like curling up into a ball and not contiuing because i diddnt know what to do, i pushed through it, whilst making a couple of emergency water changes to clear the water somewhat (so i could see what i was doing!)at this point i felt really bad, feeling that i had ruined my tank. I got most of the gravel out, theres a layer on the bottom of about 1cm, the rest on top is sand.

All the fish went back in in good health, the corys immediatly started digging 

I could have handled it alot better, better preparation, all fish should be fine aswell, looking good so far.

The tank is still very cloudy, is it OK. to run the filter? i think whats making it cloudy now is just dirt, poop, from what was the gravel. I did clean it VERY thourughly, i will also have to put some more sand in at a later date as i diddnt quite have enough.

Opinions please?

Thanks,

Simo


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## SimoUK (Jul 11, 2010)

I would reccomend the switch to anyone that is considering it! Iam very pelased with the results, all fish are fine and the tank looks much better. Sand really does bring out the colours of the plants and fish alot more!. ill post some before and after pics later


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

I've switched out substrate with fish in the tank. No problems.


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## JacobL (Aug 3, 2010)

SimoUK said:


> it was shocking to me how much dirt was actually under there, i mean tons, maybe this is just my bad maintenence i dunno, but it was ALOT, after doing about half of the gravel, the water was.. BROWN bordering on BLACK,
> Simo


I tried to warn you about that! :icon_wink I would not worry about the water though, it will clear up quickly. Just keep doing plenty of water changes, and check your water often to make sure you don't have a mini cycle or anything.


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## SimoUK (Jul 11, 2010)

Thanks for all the help guys! im very chuffed with the results, looks ALOT better, here is a piccy:


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

substrate looks good mate. neat stand too.


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## Quesenek (Sep 26, 2008)

Yeah it really is surprising how dirty the substrate is when we try our best to keep it as clean as possible.


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