Question: 100% Water Change

[priesty]

Hey guys,

I'm about to change my substrate from sand to gravel, whilst doing this I also plan to do a 100% water change.

What's the best way of doing this? As putting a tank load of water in the tank isn't the best option, I can't really use any of the water in there as it has planeria in.

Also re hides, I have to axies, should they have a hide each or is 1 big hide ok??

 

[Mandy6]

Why would you change from sand to gravel?

Gravel is so dangerous for axies, they can easily swallow it and become impacted, this can even kill them. Sand is much better for axies

And planeria aren't really bad for a tank, they will die off if you cut down on feeding and make sure to clean up any leftover food really well

As for hides they should have at least one hide each, they need to be able to get some time away from each other if they want

 

[priesty]

Oooops I ment gravel to sand

 

[Mandy6]

Ah I had a feeling you did but was a bit worried there!

I'd really advise on keeping as much of the water as possible so you don't need to worry about messing up the cycle and shocking the axie with new water and a possible sudden tempreture change.

When I changed my axies tank to a bigger one I used an old filter and moved as much of the water as I could from their old tank to the bigger one and slowly added more water.

I've done a 100% water change before but it was a lot of work and then you have to be even extra vigilant in making sure your cycle doesn't come undone!

 

[Jennewt]

When you remove the axies from the tank, keep them in a large bucket of their old water. Be sure to put a lid on to prevent them jumping out. You could also keep additional buckets of the old water to put back into the redone tank. When you put the axies in, adjust them gradually to the mixture of old and new water.

I agree that planaria aren't a problem worth worrying about. It is essential to the aquarium ecosystem to have some kind of detritus-eating organism in the tank. The best-case scenario is that these organisms are so small we don't see them. But often they end up being planaria, snails, etc. See
Caudata Culture Articles - Aquarium Invaders: Algae, Snails, Worms and Other Critters