substrate change [Archive]

SomeThing Fishy

10-07-2002, 01:17 PM

its me again :wink: i have a tank with ten fish. i wanna change my gravel to crushed coral or something better. what is the best way to change it? and whats better for my africans crushed coral or dolomite or a mix of both?

...really everybody thanks for the help... :D

Scotty

10-07-2002, 02:11 PM

There's probably a dozen or so ways to do something like that so I'll let you know how I would do it. Find something big enough to hold at least half the volume of water in the tank. Fill it up, and put the fish in. Drain the tank the rest of the way, and change the gravel out. Make sure the new gravel is well rinsed. Fill the tank back up halfway with tap water (and your declorinator and additives :wink: ). Now add as much of the old water back to just leave enough with the fish to keep them happy for a few hours in thier bucket. Turn everything back on and let it circulate and clear for a few hours, then add your fish back in with the rest of their water 8)

Any calcerous substrate will be good if used with a proper maintence routine. I have one tank with nothing but the special African gravel, and it works great. I also have one with crushed coral, and one with just some crushed coral added to regular gravel. The tank with the African gravel maintains the overall highest PH ( 8.8 ), but all of them maintain an acceptable level (8.4). Hope this helps you out some.....Scott 8)