LYNDYLOO Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hi Guys and Girls, I'm thinking about changing the Discus Tank that I've had for the past 10 yrs into an Electirc Yellows Tank. I'm guessing I will have to change the substrate, as it appears these fish like to dig, I'm steering towards using the Silica sand, I have a few questions tho: Can I remove the exsisting gravel and replace it with the Silica Sand without having to remove all of the Tank water?? I'm hoping I wont have to go through the cycling process if I keep the setup I already have up and running. Tank is an Aqua One AR980, with a Interal Filter of 1000lph aswell as running a Aqua One CF1200 External Filter. Tank has plenty of plants which will obviously need to be removed when I replace the substrate, but will be replanted when I have all that sorted. Do I need to gravel vac the silica?? If yes, will the sand be sucked up the vac?? I have a Choc Ghost Knife fish, will he be ok to leave in the tank with the Electric Yellows or will I need to rehome him?? I have done alot of reading on this over the past month or so, if there is anything that you think I need to know please don't hesitate to share you knowledge with me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 yes you can change the substrate over without replacing tank water.and also the knife will like lower ph than yellows.you will find silica gets dirty quickly aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 i expect the yellows to destroy all of your plants, i wouldn't bother replanting if i were you. as for vaccing, if the flow is sufficient you shouldn't need to do much. I have a sunsun tank of similar size as the AR and i very rarely vacced, on when the debris got caught at the base of a rock. if you have a filter intake at each end it generally takes care of itself i found if the spraybar is aimed up a little, creating a gentle barrel roll type flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Most of the filter bacteria are in the filter material and on the gravel. It should not matter if you change all of the water for the new fish. Vacuuming silica sand is easy enough .. just hold it above the sand. If it has been washed properly it won't cloud the tank. If you suck sand into your buckets, you can just put it back in again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 as far as the change over goes, if you have a huge filter it will suck the cloudiness up probably overnight, if not you might need to carefully put the sand in to minimise the clouding and having sand on everything. My tanks are small so if I want to add more sand etc, I usually fill a soup ladle, gently fill it with water in the tank and then hold it steady to the bottom where I pour it out. You can probably do the same on a larger scale with a plastic jug or bucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted January 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thanks for your help everyone. Can I leave my Corys, Choc Ghost Knife, Blue Acara and Big Angel in the tank if I change over to Electric Yellows?? I have had abit of a change around and now decided to keep the last of my Discus collection, I have placed him in another Tank that I have. I have popped the big angel that I have into the tank that the Electric Yellows will go into, if he cant stay there I will need to think about rehoming him. I thought it maybe a good idea to slowly do the change over in the tank over the next week or so, hopefully it wont stir the crud up to much when I remove the gravel and replace it with the silica sand. I plan to do a 1/3 water change with every step i do just to try and keep it as clean as possible as I'm really not wanting to remove the fish when I change over the substrate. Will do a good vac once all the gravel is removed before I place down the Silica Sand. Anything else I need to be aware of?? Thanks Heaps Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 The other thing is that is a significant population of bacteria on your gravel ... so you might want to bag up as much as feasible into some hosiery and leave it inside the tank sitting on the sand for a period until the tank is stable .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DYWLKR Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Just be careful as the ph level of a discus tank is quite the opposite to a Malawi tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted January 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Will keep those to things in mind Thanks for that Guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 i don't think it's a good idea mixing angels, cories etc with africans. the setups they need are different and the africans behaviour may be really bad news for the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 I have seen yellows with all of those fish and they have gone ok, yellows are relatively placid, the only real issue is they can be quite agro and may be a little hard on the other fish and the differences in water parameters. Don't stress about bacteria in substrate I reckon 99% of it is in the filter. I have always just set up new tanks and moved fully stocked tanks and filter and not bothered about substrate and never had an issue. Yellows may be hard on plants but it is worth a go sometimes they are ok depending on what the plants are and what your yellows are like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted January 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Thanks Ryan, Maybe I will pop the yellows in with the exsisting fish and see how they go, if no good, I will have to think about rehoming who ever is causing trouble :roll: Have ordered the substrate today, so will hopefully have that changed over within the next few days, will let the tank settle for a few days to a week before adding the Yellows :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 just make sure you wash the sand so that it runs clear before you put it in your tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted January 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 I know it sounds like a dumb question, but is there any particular way in which you wash the sand without loosing half if it?? I used to wash my gravel using a sieve, obviously I cant use a sieve to was my sand, so how do you guys do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 bucket and hose is the easiest way for me stir it up while doing it and youl get it out without losing most of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted January 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Ok cool will do it that way Cant wait for the revamp :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 What sort of cories you got? :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 I used a bucket and hand to swirl the silica sand repeatedly changing the water until it was clear. There is a very smart way to clean sand posted as a video on youtube. Basically you put the sand in a bottle, and fill it with water. You then put it into the tank which is filled with water, and near the bottom, you then invert your bottle. As the sand comes out, it is replaced by water coming in and this incoming water collects the debris and dust which is lighter than the sand. You then remove the bottle with the dirty water. Didn't work for me as silica sand is too fine and won't come out of an inverted bottle like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted January 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 p44: I just got the usual Cories, nothing fancy lol Albino, Julii, Panda, Spotted Graham C: Sounds like an interesting way to clean sand, think I will just stick to the bucket and hose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Need to watch the video I think I missed a step in my description. A poster comments: First, to the poster - this is frigging brilliant! I am an engineer who works in the solids/liquids separation business. What you have produced here is a very simple device employing what is called the "hindered settling" principle. Sand is a mixture of many particle sizes. The "cloud" left in water is the result of suspended fine particles. In your device these fine particles sink slower and are left behind in the bottle. Very ingenious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 I just do the sand in the bucket thing, rinse it lots and stir it up like Zuri08 said, and then wait for it to settle a bit before pouring off the water. When it's clear it's ready and I soup ladle it into the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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