i want to change sand

I have very fine sand and want to chang it. What would be the best way to do it? Do i drain it first, and if i do i have to cycle al over again right? My fish are in a qt tank right now,any help would be helpful!!!!! THX

 

Well, when I changed tanks, I just took my old sand, put it in buckets with water and put it back into the new tank when it came time (a few days later). It created a mini-cycle that lasted a good two months. Solid. Not a horrible cycle that killed anything.....in fact, everything survived.....but they had to live through ammonia.

Now that was sand with waste and this and that and probably the kitchen sink. You will be using new sand. You will still see a small cycle, but nothing like mine. It will just have to run it's course.

ITO doing this, I would drain all the water out, take out the sand you have. Add the new sand. Put saran wrap over the top of the sand, completely covering it. Then add the water you saved slowly. It will cause the saran wrap to rise but you will have clear water in the end. There is very little, if any, movement of sand during the process.

Good luck. Shouldn't take too much time if you have all your ducks lined up.

 

If you are using fresh clean (very very well rinsed) sand, on an established tank, you shouldn't have a cycle. If anything it will be very minor and maybe not even noticeable on our test kits. If it were me I would get a good 30-40% water change mixed and ready to go. Then my process would be to siphon out as much sand as you can and hopefully that process only drains your tank down how ever much fresh mixed saltwater you have made. I would not reuse any of the water used to siphon out the sand, it will potentially have a lot of bad stuff in it. So get rid of all the water with the sand, Then drain the tank down the rest of the way (saving that water). Add the new sand, then lay a trashbag or saran wrap (as pharmrjohn mentioned) on top of the sand, and fill up with a mix of your old water (what you took out after you took out the sand) and your newly mixed salt water. Then of course take pictures for us!

 

....oh yes.....pics. Forgot that. A must.

 

Thank you Pharmrjohn and James for your information, it is greatly appreciated! I have learned so much from everyone on this forum. The best thing I can do is read, read, read and ask questions. I will keep you posted, and pics will be coming soon! Thx

 

pharmrjohn, +1 on the saran wrap. I never thought of that. ( wish I did). took a bit for my tanks to calm down after I dumped in the water.

I agree with the steps and like the idea of wrap to keep things calm.

 

Wish I could take credit for thinking of it.....I can only pass on what someone else told me. Cannot, for the life of me, remember who it was. So to whoever turned me on to that most excellent idea.....Thanks.