Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

I removed gravel while angel parents were in there. I would not do it
again.

Bob
"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it
with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

I removed gravel while angel parents were in there. I would not do it
again.

Bob
"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it
with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I did, just be aware that it may test your patience.

Be prepared to take it slowly. As you remove the gravel, you will be
removing some of the nitrifying bacteria colony. Monitor your ammonia and
nitrite levels as you proceed. You may also stir up great clouds of crud
into the water column. When it gets to the point where you can't stand it,
wait a day for it to settle and start again.

I used a regular plastic spatula (pancake turner) to lift the gravel off the
bottom and move it to a waiting large fish net. Once the net was full, I
transferred it to a waiting five gallon bucket. I generally removed 6-8 cups
at a time.

The hard part was when I replaced it all with fluorite. Even after
aggressive rinsing, that stuff is dusty.

chet

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I did, just be aware that it may test your patience.

Be prepared to take it slowly. As you remove the gravel, you will be
removing some of the nitrifying bacteria colony. Monitor your ammonia and
nitrite levels as you proceed. You may also stir up great clouds of crud
into the water column. When it gets to the point where you can't stand it,
wait a day for it to settle and start again.

I used a regular plastic spatula (pancake turner) to lift the gravel off the
bottom and move it to a waiting large fish net. Once the net was full, I
transferred it to a waiting five gallon bucket. I generally removed 6-8 cups
at a time.

The hard part was when I replaced it all with fluorite. Even after
aggressive rinsing, that stuff is dusty.

chet

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

Be prepared to take it slowly. As you remove the gravel, you will be
removing some of the nitrifying bacteria colony. Monitor your ammonia and
nitrite levels as you proceed. You may also stir up great clouds of crud

He might want to think about overfiltering the water during the change. An
extra cycled filter would help with the bacteria, and mechanical filtration
in the filter would help with the crud clouds.
-Cesium


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Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

Be prepared to take it slowly. As you remove the gravel, you will be
removing some of the nitrifying bacteria colony. Monitor your ammonia and
nitrite levels as you proceed. You may also stir up great clouds of crud

He might want to think about overfiltering the water during the change. An
extra cycled filter would help with the bacteria, and mechanical filtration
in the filter would help with the crud clouds.
-Cesium


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.443 / Virus Database: 248 - Release Date: 1/10/2003

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

Check the "Changing Substrate of an established fully planted Tank?" topic
which I posted few weeks back.

I am changing my substrate of an established tank to 100% Fluorite. I am
changing 1 foot every weekend. First time I had little bit of Ammonia spike
because of the disturbance. I changed 50% of water and it was ok.

--
Thank You

Dominic
http://www.dlink.org/aqua

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it
with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

Check the "Changing Substrate of an established fully planted Tank?" topic
which I posted few weeks back.

I am changing my substrate of an established tank to 100% Fluorite. I am
changing 1 foot every weekend. First time I had little bit of Ammonia spike
because of the disturbance. I changed 50% of water and it was ok.

--
Thank You

Dominic
http://www.dlink.org/aqua

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it
with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it
with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?



What sort of filtration (UGF/cannister/wetdry)do you use and number of
plants?
I did a 2/3 change with no probs at all with a fair amount of plants and
lighting but you'll need a real powerful external filter(Eheim 2213 in my
case to clear the crud). If you've got a UGF just do about 1/4 each week or
1/3 each 2 weeks. Just my 2c.

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it
with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?



What sort of filtration (UGF/cannister/wetdry)do you use and number of
plants?
I did a 2/3 change with no probs at all with a fair amount of plants and
lighting but you'll need a real powerful external filter(Eheim 2213 in my
case to clear the crud). If you've got a UGF just do about 1/4 each week or
1/3 each 2 weeks. Just my 2c.

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

I have a lot of plants, and I use an Eheim 2226. I think I'll take the
advice of most of the group and do it in very small increments over time.


"Tasslehoff" wrote in message
u...

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of
their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it
with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?



What sort of filtration (UGF/cannister/wetdry)do you use and number of
plants?
I did a 2/3 change with no probs at all with a fair amount of plants and
lighting but you'll need a real powerful external filter(Eheim 2213 in my
case to clear the crud). If you've got a UGF just do about 1/4 each week
or
1/3 each 2 weeks. Just my 2c.

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

I have a lot of plants, and I use an Eheim 2226. I think I'll take the
advice of most of the group and do it in very small increments over time.


"Tasslehoff" wrote in message
u...

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of
their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

I have larger gravel (about 1/4") and would like to replace some of it
with
a layer of finer pebbles.

Is there a trick to doing this?



What sort of filtration (UGF/cannister/wetdry)do you use and number of
plants?
I did a 2/3 change with no probs at all with a fair amount of plants and
lighting but you'll need a real powerful external filter(Eheim 2213 in my
case to clear the crud). If you've got a UGF just do about 1/4 each week
or
1/3 each 2 weeks. Just my 2c.

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

Just did this very task recently. I changed my 46g Bow Front from a South
American planted tank to an African Rift lake design. The answer is very
slowly over a long period of time. A month actually.

I started by siphoning out a little of the gravel with every water change.
I do water changes of 10% weekly. The tank contained about 30 lbs. (US) of
gravel and Flourite (mixed 50/50). Each change event removed 1 to 1.5 lbs
of gravel. This gravel was put aside for use in another tank. I then
installed an aragonite substrate (thoroughly washed) for the new Rift tank.
I also added about 30 lbs of limestone rock and a piece of bog wood (yea, I
know about the acidic trait of the wood). pH went from about 6.8 to 8.2.
The fish that were in the tank were one Synodontis eupterus and 5
Tanichthys albonubes (White Cloud Mountain Minnows). Filtration is supplied
by 2 Emperor 280 filters and one Hagan 660 powerhead w/ sponge. No problems
in the tank and the fish never got overly stressed (other than with a normal
water change). I ended up leaving the Minnows in as dithers as they seemed
to accept the new water conditions well enough.

The tank now, additionally, houses 2 Labidochromis caeruleus and 2
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi eureka. I also left a population of Ramshorn
snails in there as well, which the L. caeruleus seem to be investigating as
a possible food source (or at the least as a potential for late night
entertainment). Some day the minnows will be moved, as soon as I have the
asian tank I'm trying to get set up finished. I am constructing a Net
Max-ish background for the asian tank which is looking pretty good (despite
a couple errors).

No blooms or deaths as I believe the bio-wheels and the sponge maintained
the bio load for the tank during transition. The pH took about 4 days
(according to log) to increase to the now stable level of 8.2. Time length
was probably a significant contributor to success. I have found that
patience is a real virtue in this hobby. Hope that helps.

Marlin

Changing gravel "on the fly"
 

"John Worfin" wrote in message
. net...
Has anyone attempted to remove and replace portions of the gravel of their
tank, without first tearing the tank down?

Just did this very task recently. I changed my 46g Bow Front from a South
American planted tank to an African Rift lake design. The answer is very
slowly over a long period of time. A month actually.

I started by siphoning out a little of the gravel with every water change.
I do water changes of 10% weekly. The tank contained about 30 lbs. (US) of
gravel and Flourite (mixed 50/50). Each change event removed 1 to 1.5 lbs
of gravel. This gravel was put aside for use in another tank. I then
installed an aragonite substrate (thoroughly washed) for the new Rift tank.
I also added about 30 lbs of limestone rock and a piece of bog wood (yea, I
know about the acidic trait of the wood). pH went from about 6.8 to 8.2.
The fish that were in the tank were one Synodontis eupterus and 5
Tanichthys albonubes (White Cloud Mountain Minnows). Filtration is supplied
by 2 Emperor 280 filters and one Hagan 660 powerhead w/ sponge. No problems
in the tank and the fish never got overly stressed (other than with a normal
water change). I ended up leaving the Minnows in as dithers as they seemed
to accept the new water conditions well enough.

The tank now, additionally, houses 2 Labidochromis caeruleus and 2
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi eureka. I also left a population of Ramshorn
snails in there as well, which the L. caeruleus seem to be investigating as
a possible food source (or at the least as a potential for late night
entertainment). Some day the minnows will be moved, as soon as I have the
asian tank I'm trying to get set up finished. I am constructing a Net
Max-ish background for the asian tank which is looking pretty good (despite
a couple errors).

No blooms or deaths as I believe the bio-wheels and the sponge maintained
the bio load for the tank during transition. The pH took about 4 days
(according to log) to increase to the now stable level of 8.2. Time length
was probably a significant contributor to success. I have found that
patience is a real virtue in this hobby. Hope that helps.

Marlin