Papagoomba Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 So i have pea gravel in my 29 gallon tank with about 6 pea puffers and I am just really not liking the look of it and the pea puffers are so small currently that its really hard to even see them when they are laying on the bottom relaxing at night. I am also a little worried about them laying on the gravel or kinda getting down into it and a piece of gravel shifting and trapping them since they are so small currently. So my question is how should i go about switching out the substrate? I plan on switching to sand. Should I only switch out half of the gravel then do the rest in like a week? Or since it is such a low bioload can i just take all of the gravel out and put sand in instead? If I do a full switch out would getting a mesh bag and putting some of the gravel in it and leaving it in the tank for a bit be a good idea while bb get caught up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 As changing the substrate is a pain I'd do it all in one go. As mentioned this a quite a light bio load so I personally wouldn't worry about the bacteria being lost you have mature filter media. If you keep all your decor to in tank water during the change it will help keep its bacteria alive and hopefully the cycle won't slip to much. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 Thank you. Thats what i was leaning towards. there is a bunch of dragon stone, a couple pieces of driftwood, and a couple plants. Just didnt want to end up crashing and losing the puffers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 Before and after 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott the fishman Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 On 10/31/2021 at 2:44 PM, Papagoomba said: Before and after wow great job looks much better in opinion. safer to 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Cool looks great (well will do when the fog clears) you have had a busy day. I changed the gravel in my 60gal once kept the fish in because they were to big to move or be remotely concerned about the activity but it's one of the least fun things to do with the aquarium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 since the pea puffers are so small i just took them out and put them in a container with some tank water and the water sprite thats floating so they would feel more confortable. Drained the tank since the gravel was filthy and the water was terrible once i started scooping it out. then added the sand and put it all back together. took about an hour and a half give or take. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Looks like it was well worth the effort. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer V Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 @Papagoomba such a great job! Looks beautiful and sand is the perfect substrate for pea puffers. Yay! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotTunaCartel Posted November 17, 2021 Share Posted November 17, 2021 On 10/31/2021 at 5:44 PM, Papagoomba said: Before and after Was just thinking about doing this, going from light sand to stratum. The black sand looks stunning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 That looks so much nicer. Great job. The sand really brings the dragon stone to life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papagoomba Posted November 18, 2021 Author Share Posted November 18, 2021 it has turned out better than i had hoped. I really like the black sand. My only issue is how much the fish poop stands out against it lol. Makes my job harder to keep it looking clean. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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