Taking out the gravel and putting in sand

hello
James here. I am going to take out the gravel of my tank and put in sand. I was just scared that when I take out the gravel and all the waste rises I might damage the cycling of the water or hurt the eco system of the tank. I planned that I would put all the water into buckets and once I have placed in the sand I would put in the water from the buckets.I would take out my axie until it has finnished.

Is this a safe idea for my axie?
Would I damage the cycling of the tank?
If so is there any other ways I could prevent that from happening?

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Hi James,

Your plan sounds fine to me

Very little of the bacteria actually lives in the water. The majority of the bacterias live on the tank surfaces.

The beneficial bacterias will need some time to colonise on the new substrate. Bacteria lives on all tank surfaces though, the tank walls, the ornaments, the plants and in the filter. As long as the bacterias on these surfaces survive your cycle should be fine. To help them survive, keep them immersed in the tank water and don't scrub anything!

When you touch the tank surfaces and they feel slimey - this is the beneficial bacteria.

You will need to rinse the sand thoroughly before adding to the tank. I used the bucket method to clean my playsand, put sand in bucket, pour in water, rattle your hand through the sand and pour the water out - the water will be cloudy. Keep repeating until the water runoff is clear.

It's best to wait 24 hours for the sand to settle in the tank before putting the axolotl back into the tank. The axolotl will be fine living in the bucket during this time. Fill the bucket as much as you can and ensure it has a secure lid! If you use a smaller container with less water volume to house the axie, I would give him a full water change before you go to bed.

When the axie is back in the tank, you will need to monitor your water parameters each day for a week or so just to make sure the ammonia does not take advantage of the bacterias while they are readjusting to a large surface area being replaced. This occurance is called a 'mini cycle' and it may or may not happen.

If you detect any ammonia, just do a partial water change and keep doing the water changes until the readings for ammonia and nitrite are at a constant zero.