Substrate change plan

User avatar
mantis
Senior Member
Posts: 526
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2020 15:53 pm
Location: Durham
Has liked: 691 times
Been liked: 252 times

Hey guys, my order has been dispatched. Getting some tropica plant substrate and some new sand, hopefully tomorrow! Just want to make sure my plan is Okay and I haven't missed anything as I want this to go as smoothly as possible without killing any fish in the process! Already had some advice from @Stephen so this is just to run over some final details.

Drain about 70% of the main tank water whilst putting enough of it into the container that the fish will be living in for an hour or two.
Remove heater and place in the container, whilst adding an airstone.
Check temperature to make sure it matches what the tank was and then catch and move the fish (this is the bit that has me the most nervous!)
Empty all plants and hardscape from the tank and then drain the rest of the water and remove the final bits substrate
Clean up the tank and dry the bottom
Pour in the Tropica plant substrate to 1cm where I am planning on planting and add a small layer of sand
Place hardscape and then add more sand to the depth I require all over the tank
Plant the plants - add the root tabs.
Refill the tank with treated water at the same temperature as the container to around 70%
Add some of the drained tank water back into the tank to top it up.
Catch and add fish back to the tank
Turn light off, add melafix and hope none of them die lol

Just need to know that this will not cause any problems with the cycle. I don't think removing the old substrate will cause any issues as there's barely any in there at the moment. When I clean the glass I'm only planning on cleaning and drying where the substrate will go so it doesn't stick to the sides when I add it, this is so I don't remove any bacteria that is on the glass.
User avatar
mantis
Senior Member
Posts: 526
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2020 15:53 pm
Location: Durham
Has liked: 691 times
Been liked: 252 times

Ahh also I bought some tropical soil substrate when I potted my plants, would this be okay to use for a very fine layer on top of the tropica plant substrate before I add the sand? I'm assuming this might provide a few extra nutrients and wont hurt anything?
User avatar
VikingMummy2015
TOTM Winner
TOTM Winner
Posts: 2663
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:40 am
Has liked: 845 times
Been liked: 1818 times

Sounds good to me. Just be sure your heater isn’t in direct contact with any plastic!
Must admit i’ve Changed substrate before with fish in situ but I wouldn’t do that with the plant substrate. I’ve not used the plant substrate and have it in mind that it needs gravel on top....that’s just occurred to me because I initially read it as the soil substrate, forgetting there was the other type. I’ve only used the soil because it doesn’t need capped.
240L Fluval Roma with Oase 600 Biomaster: 1 German red bristlenose, 4 male cherry barbs, 6 standard rummynose, 3 golden rummynose tetra, 9 emperor tetra, 14 cardinal tetra, 2 hengeli rasbora, 3 nerite snails, 1 adult Sulawesi snail and multiple juveniles continually appearing.

Parameters: gH2, kH1, pH7.4 (tap).
Fish fiend since October 2017.
User avatar
Stephen
Guru Multi TOTM Winner
Guru Multi TOTM Winner
Posts: 6016
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 15:42 pm
Location: Hereford, Herefordshire
Has liked: 1415 times
Been liked: 3407 times
Contact:

mantis wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 15:24 pm
Clean up the tank and dry the bottom
No need to dry the bottom unless you previously had pest snails.
There will be some good bacteria in that last bit of dirt.
mantis wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 15:24 pm Pour in the Tropica plant substrate to 1cm where I am planning on planting and add a small layer of sand.
I would add the Tropica plant substrate and top it with at least twice the depth of sand (deeper at the rear) and then add the décor.
Stand back and make any changes to the décor.
mantis wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 15:24 pm Place hardscape and then add more sand to the depth I require all over the tank
Plant the plants - add the root tabs.
Before planting I would fill the aquarium to about 6 inches (15cm) with treated water, this will make planting easier.
Only use root tabs for the plants that are root hungry species such as Amazon swords. The Tropica plant substrate will take care of the other plants.
mantis wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 15:24 pm Refill the tank with treated water at the same temperature as the container to around 70%
Add some of the drained tank water back into the tank to top it up.
I would not add the old water back to the aquarium as it does not contain anything of benefit. Throw it away.
mantis wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 15:24 pm Catch and add fish back to the tank
Turn light off, add melafix and hope none of them die lol

Just need to know that this will not cause any problems with the cycle. I don't think removing the old substrate will cause any issues as there's barely any in there at the moment. When I clean the glass I'm only planning on cleaning and drying where the substrate will go so it doesn't stick to the sides when I add it, this is so I don't remove any bacteria that is on the glass.
Catching fish is the fun bit.
I would also dose the aquarium with a proven "bacteria in a bottle" such as Seachem Stability or Tetra Safestart.
Follow the instructions on the bottle. This will help seed the aquarium and filter.
I would clean the whole of the glass with water maybe use a new kitchen sponge, there isn't much bacteria on the glass, mainly dirt or algae.
The Tropica soil will act differently than the Tropica plant substrate. I personally wouldn't use it.

Good luck ::thumbu::
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

Powered by EHEIM
User avatar
Ric
Previous TOTM Winner
Previous TOTM Winner
Posts: 3093
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 14:32 pm
Location: London
Has liked: 4280 times
Been liked: 1898 times

Sounds like a good plan. Just some minor reminders/thoughts:
Make sure you unplug the heater about 15mins before moving it (from tank to holding container and when moving it back to the tank) to allow it to cool off.
Also, you may want to take the plants and any large pieces of decor out before catching the fish. Less places for them to hide which makes it easier for you to catch them.
Last thought: instead of the airstone in the holding tank, could you not simply swap your filter over? That way your filter bacteria will stay alive and your holding tank gets properly filtered.
Really last thought: take lots of pics throughout the process to show us afterwards how it went. ::thumb::

Good Luck!
User avatar
mantis
Senior Member
Posts: 526
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2020 15:53 pm
Location: Durham
Has liked: 691 times
Been liked: 252 times

Ah some good points I didn't think of there thanks everyone! @VikingMummy2015 Just got a filter guard today so sorted on that front :D @Stephen I don't have Seachem Stability but have some Quick start I think, didn't think I'd need it with the filter already cycled but yeah it does make sense to top it up after changing all the water, cheers.

@Ric The filter idea is so obvious I have no idea how I didn't think of that ROFL

Still bricking it but I'm sure it'll be fine!
User avatar
Jon_D
Posting Legend
Posts: 1363
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2019 21:51 pm
Location: Teesdale
Has liked: 657 times
Been liked: 774 times
Contact:

Stephen a quick one. Does the water from the old tank not contain " munchers"? That may be the reason why my new QT is taking so long to cycle!☺I syphoned water from the CT into it!
User avatar
Stephen
Guru Multi TOTM Winner
Guru Multi TOTM Winner
Posts: 6016
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 15:42 pm
Location: Hereford, Herefordshire
Has liked: 1415 times
Been liked: 3407 times
Contact:

Jon_D wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 18:27 pm Stephen a quick one. Does the water from the old tank not contain " munchers"? That may be the reason why my new QT is taking so long to cycle!☺I syphoned water from the CT into it!
Not really Jon. Most of the "munchers" will be in the filter. Old water has no real value when cycling.
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

Powered by EHEIM
User avatar
mantis
Senior Member
Posts: 526
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2020 15:53 pm
Location: Durham
Has liked: 691 times
Been liked: 252 times

Who knew a bag of sand could have me so excited 😂😂


Image
User avatar
Stephen
Guru Multi TOTM Winner
Guru Multi TOTM Winner
Posts: 6016
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 15:42 pm
Location: Hereford, Herefordshire
Has liked: 1415 times
Been liked: 3407 times
Contact:

mantis wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 12:31 pm Who knew a bag of sand could have me so excited 😂😂

Image
Nice, yes a bag of sand can get you excited as you are about to re-vamp your aquarium and you have an image in your head of what it will hopefully look like.
I also get excited with new plants or new décor (bogwood). :)

All the best
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

Powered by EHEIM
Post Reply