Question: Changing to sand from glass bottom

dad of axle

dad of axle

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Hi I am changing my tank to sand and am just wondering if I empty all the water out when i put the sand in will I lose the cycle of the tank? or should I leave some water in the tank and hope that the sand settles without beig murky?
I am using play sand which I bought at Bunnings , and will wash it thoroughly several times first over a couple of weeks before I put it in the tank,

I am also upgrading the filter to an external cannister from a tankmaid internal cannister as it seems to be incredibly noisy. I don't know why it is so noisy and have wondered whether part of the noise is the vibratoin it causes against the glass and the bottom of the tank, which sits on a wooden stand.
 
Well i dont know your answer for sure, but i would be very careful about changing filters and water. The majority of the micro-bacteria live in your filter. and your waters going to end up murky no matter what, i guess theroectically if you did it gently enough you could do it with out it becoming murky.

you could also just save the tank water and put it back in after you put the sand in!!!
 
If you clean the sand really really really really well and scoop it in while wet you can almost pour it out of the container you scooped it up with and keep the tank full of water minus just what water the sand will displace. I would turn the filter off for an hour or so so it doesn't suck in all the sand but do not remove the old filter completely. I would leave the old filter in the tank and run the new one in tandem for a few weeks before switching over to the new filter on its own.

Good luck.
 
Take your sand, and rinse it until you feel like you've rinsed the bloody life out of it, then rinse again.

Take a plastic cup (don't use glass, it's slippery!), and scoop up your sand. Fill your cup up all the way with sand. Lower the cup right-side up into the tank and slowly dump the sand on the bottom of the tank. This prevents sloshing, a lot of cloudiness, and having to remove all your water!

The beneficial bacteria in your tank live on every surface. They're what makes it 'slimy' in your tank. They're not usually free-floating in the water.
 
thanks for your replies guys. When the weather cools down a little more I will (30 degrees C today) I will get to work on the change over.
 
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