re scaping

[ryannxs]

plannind on taking out the substrate from my tank for two reasons realy
1. fancy going bare bottom ( i know im asking for it lol!)
2. to eliminate my snail issue/eppidemic

bit worried though as im worried about losing valuable bacteria living in the gravel. any advice?

 

[rpp1973]

Hi I would syphon a little gravel out at each waterchange. any change would be gradual IMO.

Rob.

 

[RobHarrison]

Ive had gravel in my tanks that i dont like and removed, i just syphond it out of my house into a bucket and let the water flow over the bucket and the gravel being heavy stays containd, i had bare bottomd tank in my 6ft tank but it did look a bit poo i though, bare bottoms are good in breeding tanks i find but in bigger tanks the substrate reflects the light and the fish seem happyer, i ended up using playsand from argos in mine and i couldnt be more happyer! very cheap as well

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

bit worried though as im worried about losing valuable bacteria living in the gravel. any advice?

Hi I would syphon a little gravel out at each waterchange. any change would be gradual IMO.

i ended up using playsand from argos in mine and i couldnt be more happyer! very cheap as well

Personally I wouldn't go bare bottom, it is an option that works for some people (I think thegeeman, Jozebs and Matubula all have some bare bottomed tanks), but you need to be very good at managing water quality and scrupulous about keeping the tank bottom clean. Substrate also reduces reflections from the tank bottom. If I did want to replace the gravel I'd definitely go with a bit at a time.

Personally I use a thinnish layer of sand as well, if you have a lot of flow you may end up with bare spots, so I mix in some coarser sand/small grit, and then the water will sort the sand and gravel dependent upon how fast the water is flowing. My reason would be that some substrate helps with maintaining a stable microbial biomass in the tank. My reasoning is here: <http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?p=50359>

cheers Darrel

 

[ryannxs]

thanks guys i think i will gradually syphon off all the current substrate untill its bare and totaly irradicate my snail issue, then replace with sand.