Changing substrate - need help!

[leeloo]

Hi, at the moment i have gravel covered by largish pebbles, after advice i have decided to remove the gravel all together. I have taken half the gravel out and am planning on taking the rest out in a few days time to try and avoid any cycling. The water has pretty much gone black and cloudy from all the waste kicked up by removing the gravel, should i do a partial water change? How do i get rid of all the waste thats been churned up? My axie is in the fridge at the minute so theres no worry about her. I am planning on keeping most of the large pebbles as my substrate as i don't really want sand or a bare floor. How often do i need to clean the pebbles and how do i go about it? thanks x

 

[Jennewt]

Yes, you may need to do several extra partial water changes until the black cloud is gone. If you have a decent filter, it should filter out a lot of it. After the black cloud is gone, clean the filter pad.

For cleaning dirt out from the pebbles, I would recommend some kind of siphon, perhaps one that does NOT have a gravel-cleaning attachment on it (in other words, just a piece of tubing). Stick the end of the siphon down amongst and beneath the pebbles. I'd say this should be done weekly. Having a good filter will help.

 

[Kaysie]

Yes, you can do a partial change. To get rid of the stirred up waste, you'll have to wait until it settles and vacuum the substrate, or use a filter to try and remove it from the water.

Pebbles are worse than gravel when it comes to gunk buildup. You see how much gunk has built up in your gravel, it will be just as bad with pebbles, and pebbles are harder to clean than gravel. Sand is really best, but having no substrate is better than having just large pebbles.

 

[leeloo]

okie dokie, i don't have a filter so i'm gonna have to try the other method, how do i vacuum it? do i need a special cleaning equipment or just siphon the water out with an ordinary tube? If i did that, would that also be part of my water change? Sorry if that doesn't make sense! :rofl: I thought with the pebbles, i could just take them out and clean them by hand? I just think the tank will look ugly with a bare floor!

found this - http://www.seapets.co.uk/product-details/stkcode/662370/category/656.html
i don't think i wanna siphon it manually as thats just gross! i'm planning on going to a big pet shop tomorrow to see if they have anything similar, if not, i'll have to order this but i dunno how long it'll take to arrive...

or one of these? http://www.virtualvillage.co.uk/Items/001492-010

 

[Jennewt]

Any piece of tubing would suffice as a siphon. Yes, the water removed when you siphon out the gunk does count as part of your water change (although, if you have a small unfiltered tank, you should be doing more than the recommended water changes anyway). If you're going to remove the pebbles, then you can siphon out the gunk while the pebbles are out of the tank.

Rather than spending money on a fancy siphon, I have to think... why not buy a filter instead? A small waterfall filter (any brand) is quite inexpensive:
http://www.aquariumguys.com/penguin100b.html

 

[leeloo]

ooooo cool! thankyou i haven't got a filter because i was unsure which one to get because of water flow and such, well i'm going to the pet shop tomorrow, do you think they should know what a waterfall filter is? i might still pick up a cheap siphon just because there is SO much gunk! ewwwww...... :lol:

 

[ianclick]

Hi Leeloo.

Cycling the tank again to me is the lesser of two evils I have read so much on this site about the ill effects of gravel impaction that I would rather go back to partial water changes than take the risk with gravel.

I removed all the garvel from Hendrix and Ollies Tanks about 2 months ago. One tank has had sand put in as substrate the other has no substrate.

Hendrix doesn't have any hassles moving on the bare floor and its haeps easier to clean.

Providing you don't clean the tank and plants there should still be good bacteria left.

I have a waterfall filter in both tanks and neither axie seems bothered by the out fall in fact at times they sit directly under it. As there is plenty of room I assume they are doing this because they want to. Neither show signs of stress.

Good Luck