recommendations on gravel change

[percyjenkins]

i plan to change my substrate from rocky gravel to sand, and i was wondering if anyone had any tips on the best way to do this. my water currently is ideal, and was wondering if i should try to use as much of that as possible or not. i understand the need to clean the sand and whatnot but i'm basically wondering if theres an easy method to this, leave the water in or take it out, etc. thanks.

[Cichlid_Fan]

When I did this I used two 40 gallon trash cans lined with two trash bags each. I put the fish in a 10 gallon tank with water from the main tank to hold them. After I drained the tank I used a cleaned plastic dust pan as a shovel to scoop the old substrate out and throw it away. I put the new clean substrate in the tank and then refilled the tank with the original water and then put in the fish.

Good luck,
Matt