hello all,
I have a 46 gallon bowfront freshwater tank with live plants and approx. 27 fish, ranging from angelfish to cardinal tetra's. I was thinking about replacing or adding some Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate from caribsea to help my plants grow, in addition I think it would look nice as well. can I take all my plants out and put in this new substrate without removing my fish? I wouldn't want anything to happen to my fish.

what do you think?

Thanks,
James

i dont think so, water usually gets very dirty as the old substrate is removed. also theres some form of gas under the substrate which is toxic to fish, because of the inevitable anaerobic conditions down there.

place fish safely in another tank, before doing that operation, also water would have to be replaced.

take care.
"James" wrote in message news hello all,
I have a 46 gallon bowfront freshwater tank with live plants and approx. 27 fish, ranging from angelfish to cardinal tetra's. I was thinking about replacing or adding some Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate from caribsea to help my plants grow, in addition I think it would look nice as well. can I take all my plants out and put in this new substrate without removing my fish? I wouldn't want anything to happen to my fish.

what do you think?

Thanks,
James

i dont think so, water usually gets very dirty as the old substrate is removed. also theres some form of gas under the substrate which is toxic to fish, because of the inevitable anaerobic conditions down there.

place fish safely in another tank, before doing that operation, also water would have to be replaced.

take care.
"James" wrote in message news hello all,
I have a 46 gallon bowfront freshwater tank with live plants and approx. 27 fish, ranging from angelfish to cardinal tetra's. I was thinking about replacing or adding some Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate from caribsea to help my plants grow, in addition I think it would look nice as well. can I take all my plants out and put in this new substrate without removing my fish? I wouldn't want anything to happen to my fish.

what do you think?

Thanks,
James

i dont think so, water usually gets very dirty as the old substrate is removed. also theres some form of gas under the substrate which is toxic to fish, because of the inevitable anaerobic conditions down there.

place fish safely in another tank, before doing that operation, also water would have to be replaced.

take care.
"James" wrote in message news hello all,
I have a 46 gallon bowfront freshwater tank with live plants and approx. 27 fish, ranging from angelfish to cardinal tetra's. I was thinking about replacing or adding some Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate from caribsea to help my plants grow, in addition I think it would look nice as well. can I take all my plants out and put in this new substrate without removing my fish? I wouldn't want anything to happen to my fish.

what do you think?

Thanks,
James

i dont think so, water usually gets very dirty as the old substrate is removed. also theres some form of gas under the substrate which is toxic to fish, because of the inevitable anaerobic conditions down there.

place fish safely in another tank, before doing that operation, also water would have to be replaced.

take care.
"James" wrote in message news hello all,
I have a 46 gallon bowfront freshwater tank with live plants and approx. 27 fish, ranging from angelfish to cardinal tetra's. I was thinking about replacing or adding some Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate from caribsea to help my plants grow, in addition I think it would look nice as well. can I take all my plants out and put in this new substrate without removing my fish? I wouldn't want anything to happen to my fish.

what do you think?

Thanks,
James

James,

If your substrate is old - at least 4 months old - you don't need to
replace it to get better plant growth. If you want a different look
that's another thing.

What makes the substrate work are the bacteria that live in it. An
old substrate has that bacteria established. From what I hear Eco
Complete is truly a great product. It comes seeded with bacteria
which is what makes it work from day 1. Do the math.

If you are having problems with growing your plants you will have to
make sure that your water parameters are indeed what you think they
are. If you get the parameters right the plants will react within a
few days.

--Nikolay

James,

If your substrate is old - at least 4 months old - you don't need to
replace it to get better plant growth. If you want a different look
that's another thing.

What makes the substrate work are the bacteria that live in it. An
old substrate has that bacteria established. From what I hear Eco
Complete is truly a great product. It comes seeded with bacteria
which is what makes it work from day 1. Do the math.

If you are having problems with growing your plants you will have to
make sure that your water parameters are indeed what you think they
are. If you get the parameters right the plants will react within a
few days.

--Nikolay