Converting My Tank From Gravel To Sand
As I mentioned in my 55G disaster post, I decided to convert the aquarium in my family room from a community tank to African cichlids. The ph of my water is somewhat low (~6), and African cichlids like higher ph, in the 7 to 8 range. A good way to do this is with argonite sand. The problem is switching from the gravel that was in the tank to sand. Because I am impatient, I had already bought a few assorted African cichlids, so emptying the tank was not an option.
I thought for a while about the best way to do this. It seemed to me that a hose siphoning into a bucket would be the most effective – simply vacuuming up the gravel, leaving a bare bottom and sucking up any nasty chemicals that may have built up along with it. After thinking about it more, that seemed like a lot of work. So, here’s what I did instead:
Phase 1: Removing the gravel
I got my handy 5G Home Depot bucket and my largest fish net (about 6 inches across). I started at one end of the tank and scooped up as much gravel as I could, dumping it in the bucket as I went. This was pretty fast and effective, but there was quite a bit of gravel left in the tank that I simply could not get with the net.
Phase 2: Cleaning up the mess
I took my “Python no-spill” water changer and removed the gravel vacuum head (the clear plastic tub part) by unscrewing it behind the valve. I attached the python to my sink, and took my large net and placed it directly under the python’s discharge, to catch gravel that came through, so it would not go down my drain. I turned the water on high to get the most suction.
At the tank, I used the bare of of the python hose like a vacuum, sucking up every last bit of gravel and waste left, leaving a very clean tank bottom. All of the gravel I vacuumed up ended up in the net in the bottom of my sink. I simply dumped the net into the bucket and had cleanly transferred all of the gravel from the tank to the bucket.
Phase 3: Rinsing the Sand
I rinsed 2 20 pound bags of argonite sand very well to remove the fine sediment that would could the water using a bucket in my kitchen sink. This took a looong time.
Phase 4: Sand in the tank
I scooped the sand into a cup, and then lowered the cup into the tank, until I had transferred all of the sand. Much to my dismay, the water was still turned milky-white, despite my rinsing efforts.
Phase 5: Water changes
I reconnected my python’s gravel vac and performed 3 75% back-to-back water changes to get rid of the cloudiness. This was pretty effective.
Phase 6: Finishing touches
I had some drift wood in the tank previously, and arranged it to provide a bunch of hiding spots. I also bought a few pieces of rock, and used some stones to create a few other hiding areas.
Here is the result:
