Changing sand to gravel in Tropical Fish Tank?

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penclifford

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Hi, I am looking to change the sand to gravel in our fish tank. Is it possible to do this with the fish still in the tank? Do i have to soak the gravel overnight before putting it in? Any advise would be grateful!! Thanks
Could i put the gravel on top of the sand to keep the bacteria but slowly syphon the sand out over a few weeks?
 
no you cannot do it with thr fish in the tank or you'll end up huting or killing them! and you have to soak the gravel overnight and even let the water cycle properly before you put in your fish!
 
Hi there. I'd highly recommend taking out the sand before putting in the gravel. Probably shouldn't put the gravel on top of the sand as it's just taking up more space in your tank. I'd transfer your fish into a bucket while you take out the ornaments, plants and then the sand. For the gravel, you don't need to leave it over night to soak. All you have to do is give it a good rinse of all the dust so it won't make your water cloudy when you add it to your aquarium.
Taking the sand out and replacing it with the gravel won't effect your biological filter and the bacteria in the water. If you can keep as much of the tank water as possible then you will be fine as your filter will still have bacteria in it. Just add in some cycle by nutrafin, bio booster by aqua master, or stress zyme by API to add more beneficial bacteria to your water.
 
The fish need to be removed first. When you begin taking out the sand, gasses that may be trapped in it will be released and may kill your fish if they are left in it. Removing the sand will affect your biological filtration, though, since a lot of the bacterial colonies are on it and many anaerobic nitrate removing bacterias probably live in it. If you have another biological filter(bio-wheel, or some other media filtration) it should be fine. If not, your tank may cycle all over again. Soaking the gravel before hand isn't completely necessary, but it is a good idea if you don't want to stare at a cloudy mess while your filter cleans it up.
Adding cycle or some other bacterial starter is actually not a good idea because the type of bacteria in it are not the same type of bacteria in the normal aquarium cycle, and compete for food. Just keep an eye on your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate and do water changes if anything seems amiss.
 
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