# Standard Gravel to Sand



## Cichfish (Jul 15, 2003)

Was wondering what is the best way to switch from my standard aquarium gravel to sand? What is the best sand to use? What are the benefits of sand over gravel? Will I loose any beneficial bacteria in my old gravel bed? Will it harm my Malawi peacocks? Or will the tank re cycle and harm the fish? :-?


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## Norm66 (Mar 3, 2005)

It's possible you might see a little bit of a mini-cycle when you first change it out. A certain amount of nitrifying bacteria does live in the gravel, but there's more in your filter where the water flows better. I'd just feed lightly for a couple weeks after changing and either test to monitor levels or just do some extra water changes during that time. It won't hurt your fish as long as the ammonia and nitrites don't spike. It shouldn't be an issue, but you should be aware of the possibility.

Best way to do it is just to do it, there's really no trick to it, you just have to scoop out all the gravel. Make sure your sand is well rinsed and you should be good to go.

As for the benefits of sand over gravel, I prefer sand because a) it doesn't trap waste (it sits on top waiting for you to sweep it out), b) the fish seem to prefer it, especially the real diggers, and c) I think it just plain looks better. I think the pool filter sand is the best option both for looks and cost. It's not often in this hobby that the good stuff is among the cheaper alternatives.


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## Cichfish (Jul 15, 2003)

Thx for the advice!...How much sand do you think will be good enough for a 75G? Any other advice from making the switch from Gravel to Sand? Should I just use PFS or any other substrate to mix with it.


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## MandyBlue (Mar 19, 2011)

I recently did did this with my planted 46 gallon. What I did what get 4 5 gallon home depot buckets and put all the plants, fish, and decor and water in it. As much as I could anyway. Then I just tore down the tank, cleaned it out, duped all the rock, and rebult the tank. It was all back up in running in about 3 hours.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Removing the substrate will remove a large portion of your beneficial bacteria. A really healthy tank should be able to make it through without a cycle, but if you have used any medication recently or had an illness or for any other reason your fish or bacteria are already stressed...I'd wait until a better time.


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## jayzerus (Jun 23, 2011)

I just did this recently, and I definitely like the new look.

But now that I've done it, my water is slightly cloudy. The water was crystal clear for the first two days, and now it almost looks like I have an algae bloom, but its not green, its like a haze in the water (if that makes sense).


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## allierw (Apr 20, 2006)

I would get either some old pantyhose or a filter bag and suspend some of your gravel in the tank after you switch it out, or put it (still in the bag) in your filter to reduce the chance of a mini-cycle. I would also recommend what MandyBlue said...remove the fish, take the tank down, re-fill, then add your fish back. Most people use pool filter sand (PFS) because it is very cheap, easy to clean, and looks nice. For me the main benefit of sand over gravel is that sand is much less dirty.


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## Cichfish (Jul 15, 2003)

Yes I will def. wait until my tank bounces back to normal maybe a few weeks or so. Since I just had to medicate due to bloat. I will most likely use PFS. Some people say you can only have a 2 inch or less depth of sand but I have seen some tanks have a lot of sand in them. I want the front of my tank to be wavy looking. Some say who can get hydrogen gases trapped inside the sand which can turn deadly toward the fish a anerobic air traps inside of the sand.


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## mbeattyptc (Jan 25, 2008)

My original 55 gallon tank has had the original gravel in it for 20 years. 
I have had african cichlids in it for at least 10 years. I switched from gravel to sand about 2 months ago. I used Quickrete medium sand I special ordered from Home Depot, cost around $6 per 50 lbs. Cleaned gravel with siphon and saved about 20 gallons of the original water and the good stuff in the gravel. I scooped out all the old gravel rinsed it over a 5 gallon bucket, saved all the good stuff at the bottom of the tank. 
The Quickrete sand was rinsed and it was fairly easy to rinse. Added the new sand, old water and the good stuff and waited about 3-4 days and went and had the water tested. It was perfect for my new baby cichlids I transferred from my baby tank.
The sand looks really nice and the fish love it. I'm glad I did it.
I spent over 100 dollars for cichlid sand in my 75 gallon....I wish now I would have used the Quickrete medium sand.


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## SMusson (Jul 19, 2011)

i was thinking of asking the same thing. I will doing a change over from rock to sand in a couple weeks. Would you suggest possibly mixing in some crushed coral in there as well? I will be looking for that Quickrete at HomeDepot when i get a chance.


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## gilberbt (Aug 1, 2009)

> I will doing a change over from rock to sand in a couple weeks. Would you suggest possibly mixing in some crushed coral in there as well? I will be looking for that Quickrete at HomeDepot when i get a chance.


I would just put crushed coral in your filter/sub if needed and just have sand in your tank. I switched last weekend from a fine white sand to Quickcrete All Purpose sand and I think it looks a lot more natural now. It is a medium coarse sand so not as much kick up plus got it for $3.68 per 50 LBS bag which you cant really beat.

When you do switch from gravel to sand I would vacuum it very well at lease 1x the day before the switch because it gets messy.


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## Guest (Aug 15, 2011)

I am moving at the end of the month and was thinking about switching to sand would this be a good time to do it or should i set it up at the new place first? Also when doing WC should I vacuum the sand like i do the gravel or not?

Thanks for the help!


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## vann59 (Jun 20, 2011)

pgage303 said:


> I am moving at the end of the month and was thinking about switching to sand would this be a good time to do it or should i set it up at the new place first? Also when doing WC should I vacuum the sand like i do the gravel or not?
> 
> Thanks for the help!


Check these pages for good information

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos.php

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/a ... p_list.php


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2011)

vann59 said:


> pgage303 said:
> 
> 
> > I am moving at the end of the month and was thinking about switching to sand would this be a good time to do it or should i set it up at the new place first? Also when doing WC should I vacuum the sand like i do the gravel or not?
> ...


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## Cichfish (Jul 15, 2003)

sand is the best!


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## Andrewand (Aug 22, 2011)

there's really no trick to it, you just have to scoop out all the gravel. Make sure your sand is well rinsed and you should be good to go.


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