# Wanting to change substrate to sand



## jayc (May 23, 2010)

I currently have black gravel in my aquarium but would like to switch to white sand. I don’t have an extra tank to put my current fish in. What do you think about changing to sand with fish in the tank. Will the floating bits hurt them at all. And should I shut off my filter until most of the sand settles?


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

I would leave the filters on full blast while removing your gravel but shut them off for say 15 minutes when you first add the sand so sand doesn't get in and ruin your impeller. You'll have lots of crap floating around when removing sand so. Good to pull that out of the tank.

Anthony


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

i would remove it in halves or quarters. maybe do a quarter of the gravel every 3-4 days just so you don't cause a shock to the tank. I would also do what Anthony suggested


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## aprilsaquarium (Aug 22, 2016)

Good advice but I just did about 20’tanks in a . Couple of hours. I caught some
Fish in container with their own water. Scooped gravel with net and into buckets. Drained half tank . Added sand and refilled and added fish back. Filter still had lots of good bacteria so it was just like doing a wc. You can always add some
Live bacteria but the filters are still full of bacteria. 


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## kivyee (Oct 15, 2016)

Yup. While there's a lot of beneficial bacteria in the substrate they don't do a significant amount of waste removal (ammonia, nitrate etc) due to lack of exposure to the water column vs bacteria in the filter which will get 3 to 5 times the volume of water in the tank circulated through per hour. April's method is good way since removing half the water also means you are helping removing floating particles of sand. Make sure you give the sand a really good rinse to get all the fine particles out. I would also try to transfer the sand as gently as possible. If you let if free fall through the water it will definitely get super cloudy.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Maybe remove half the water and keep it. Remove the sand and then as much water as possible. Replace the first half of water and use clean tap water to top up. Wash the new sand well.


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## Daryl (Jun 1, 2010)

Some good advice here so far. Depending on the type of sand you are using, washing is a must. Playsand will always be "dirty" no matter how many times you wash it. The cleanest sand I have used is pool filter sand. I like the target brand that comes in 50lb bags because it's cheap, has a more natural tan colour, and is exceptionally clean. I have used white pool filter sand before as well, and it was very clean too. It generally only requires a quick rinse.

One other thing to keep in mind if you are washing your sand and putting it straight in the tank is that it can drop your overall water temperature quite a bit (i wash my sand in the back yard with a garden hose/bucket so the water is straight cold). Depending on what type of fish you keep, that could be a problem. I have heard that clownb loaches are prone to illness if they get too cool.


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## jayc (May 23, 2010)

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I just remembered I had a leftover 10 gallon. I think I might put the fish in there first so I dont have to be so rushed when doing the change. And where shoUld I go to buy pool filter sand. Any places have more variety in colour?


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## aprilsaquarium (Aug 22, 2016)

I have target sand . Didn’t rinse no cloudy or debris. Clean. Same
Colour as Colorado
Sand 


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## jayc (May 23, 2010)

So I’ve take out all my old substrate and scraped off most the the black beard algae I had in the tank (I was having a big problem with that). Anything I can do to prevent that problem from reaccuring? I have a green terror in there so any kind of very hardy plants?


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## Adam (Dec 17, 2012)

Langley biwater has white silica sand, think it's around 20 bucks for a 50lb bag, comes very clean, may still want to rise it first.


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## TTanks (Jan 31, 2019)

Hi,

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but I was wondering where you can find Target sand? I tried researching it, but couldn't find a supplier list. I've found white pool sand, but I would prefer the tan color.


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## aprilsaquarium (Aug 22, 2016)

I have a bag I can sell or half . 


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## Adam (Dec 17, 2012)

Most pool or spa supply stores have the target sand as well


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## TTanks (Jan 31, 2019)

Thank you for the info, greatly appreciated! I'll start phoning around the pool and spa suppliers here locally, and see what they have.


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## Julio (Jan 17, 2011)

Doesn't new silica create new types of algae or am i confusing this with salt water... 

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