CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

I currently have sand in my tank. Everytime I use my python I vacuum up a lot of sand. Now I want to change to black gravel, just wandering what is the easiest way to do this.
Will I have to move the fish?

Should I just dump the gravel on top of the sand?

Or do I have to endure the arduous task of removing the sand first?

Thanks in advance.

This is just a wacky thought but, Python it out? You can scoop what you can and then do a serious cleaning on bottom with python.

If tank is a smaller one just put fish in buckets and dump it.
There is a hundred ways to do it i guess python might just work though? Let me know what happens

Nope, I´ve tried removing sand by syphon...that one doesn´t work out so well...at least not with the sand I was using.

Changing substrates could mess with the nitrogen cycle in your tank...watch out for that one...

I would say to syphon what you can, then just dump the rest out of the tank (if its a small enough tank to do so). If its a larger tank, syphon what you can, scoop the rest, and then spread what you can´t scoop evenly along the bottom, just putting your gravel down over that. That shouldn´t take too much time...but it could very well mess with your bio-filter if you don´t leave the filter running in some water to keep the bacteria alive...

I would suggest that you remove the fish from the tank, as digging around will stir the sand in the tank really badly, and you´ll want to do a 100% waterchange anyway. Just run the filter from your tank in whatever bucket the fish are in, if you can. This will help the bacteria to survive.

Sorry if any of the post didn´t make any sense. I´m kinda rushed at the moment...post back if you need me to explain.