gravel change?

Question

right now i got sand in my tank thats 20 gal but im not happy with it and im thinking about a change.What do i do with my fish? I got 2nd tank thats 55gal but with two oscars my puffers would not servive four weeks cyceling of there own tank. how do i do this how do i begin.

Answer 1

How about moving the sand so it's all on one side of the tank and putting up a short plexiglass divider to keep it in place? Then you can add gravel to the other side of the plexiglass. Gradually remove the sand and move the barrier a little each week, while spreading out the gravel. This way you have the bacteria that's in the sand, but let the gravel build up its own bacteria. I take it that your puffer is freshwater (African dwarf?). Just be careful of the gravel size - it should be large enought that the fish can't fit the pieces into its mouth. Puffers will chew gravel to keep their beak worn down, and if they swallow a piece, it's bad news.

Answer 2

No need to change the sand in one go, your best bet is to get plastic strips, say 3 of them and divide the tank into 4 sections, then remove one section per week, when you are done carefully rinse (i cant stress this enough) the new substrate and add it to the replaced section, so one section in; one section out per week for 4 weeks, this will stop any "cycling" issues you might get. Personally i like sand but its all individual taste i guess, just don't get coloured gravel *cringes*. Most of the bacteria that lives in the tank is in the filter not the gravel so cycling shouldn't be an issue anyway.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Pet store sell gravel for fish tanks. You can start out by buying some gravel and mixing it with the sand so the fix get used to it, then after a couple of weeks, adding more and more gravel. Whenever you clean your tank though, it's a good idea to get the moldy mildew off of the rocks as well.

Answer 4

I'd switch the sand for gravel slowly, doing about a quarter of the tank every week. This should not disrupt the bacteria if done a little at a time.

Answer 5

Raf, you really need to cinsider whats best for the fish, when you research your puffer did it tell you the substrate they come from? and I dont mean the fish store, I mean their origin!

also, who told you to keep 2 oscars in a tiny 55 gallon tank?
the absolute minimum for 1 oscar is a 75 gallon.
I hope your doing twice weekly water changes and have plans for a MUCH larger tank.