Adding plants to my aquarium with epoxy gravel?

Question

I have a 29 gal aquarium. I would like to purchase a co2 injector and add some plants. My main purpose is to lower my pH (currently it is 8.4 with a Kh of 300+!) and to add interest to my aquarium. Currently I have 2 neon blue Gourami's, 6 bloodfin tetra, 1 spotted catfish and one striped rafael catfish. I want to lower the ph so I can have angelfish as well. Yes, I know the tetra may get eaten, but I want to give them plenty of hiding places before adding the angel fish. Currently I have epoxy coated rock at the bottom of my tank. I have read this is not a suitable substrate for aquarium plants. So how do I change the substrate on the aquarium without stressing the fish I own? Can I layer over the rock?

The largest fish in the aquarium are the dwarf gourami. They will grow to 3 inches. It is safe to have 29 inches of fish in my aquarium. Tetras will grow to 1.5 inches. I have 5 of them, sorry I may have said 6 before. Either way, counting all my fish, then I only have 18 in. of fish in there. Besides, telling me I have an over crowded tank is avoiding the question. Please answer the question, not criticize my fish keeping abilities.

Answer 1

The best way to exchange you substrate is as follows:
take a cup or buy yourself a cat scooper and just scoop out the old substrate
Start doing about half of it
then wash your newly aquired gravel (or whatever you will use) with warm water in a strainer
take a cup and fill your gravel in there
then just submerge the cup slowly into your tankwater and empty it out on the bottom
easy and simple, no hassle
lots of work, but your fish will be fine and not stressed
i would do the other half 2 days later though

but you could also put just another layer over the old one




hope that helps
good luck


EB


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Answer 2

I think you would be able to remove and replace your epoxy gravel with no problems. I doubt it would be any more traumatic than a normal gravel siphoning. I wouldn't layer over your current gravel. Your plants would still end up rooting in the epoxy stuff. The old gravel would get mixed in with the new substrate when you clean. Also, having too much gravel will trap extra debris and could leave you with some water quality issues.

Answer 3

Your tank is overcrowded as is with those 10 fish, soon to be 11 in a 29 gallon tank.

Answer 4

I think you need a bigger aquarium