i had today off work so i decided today i am done procrastinating. i took all my pea gravel substrate out and put in a mix of playground sand and crushed coral. i had some challenges while doing this soi would like too share some shortcomings i had so others can avoid making my same mistakes in the future. overall i am glad i did it though.
moving the fish: since i had to take all the fish out to change the substrate i used a large plastic tub that i cleaned out earlier. it worked great but since i didnt know how long it was going to take me to finish rinsing everything outside i threw a heater in the tub and covered it with a towel to keep the fish calm. when i checked on it later the heater had warmed the water so much that i cooked a few fish. i lost 2 of my rostratus and 3 smaller tangerine tigers which i just got. in hindsight i should've left the heater out and let the water stay at room temperature and just add an airline to make sure they had O2. it was so hot i actually added ice just to cool it down a little bit.(not a lot tough, you dont want to shock them even more and they are already pretty stressed at this point)
removing the old substrate: this part wasnt too bad but one thing that really helped was a kitty pooper scooper. i got a metal one from the store and it ws extremely handy. the down side is that you need to be aware and careful not to scratch the glass. i used the metal for the bulk then when i got down to the last part i used a net to get what was left. suppert the net with your hand to pull the rest out of the tank so you dont rip it.
rinsing the new stuff: i dont remember who suggested to use the pillow case but that was an awesome idea. i added the sand and coral in the pillow case and blasted the inside with the hose until it ran clear. if you do less than 1/3 of the pillow case this seem most efficient. then i put the pillow case into a 5g bucket and carried it to the tank it kept me from making a mess from outside all the way to the tank.
adding the new sand and coral:my first attempt to add the new sand did not go very smooth, it clouded up the tank pretty good. i attribute that to my technique of putting it in there. i just kinda put the 5g bucket in the tank and tried to scoop out the sand under the water. this sucked and i would not suggest it. i refined it a bit by using the pillow case where i could gently lay it on the bottom and softly coax the sand out. this made almost no mess in the tank but since i really jacked up the first try im the proud new owner of a cloudy, mystery-fish tank anyways.
i will post some pictures of how i did this a little later when i get some more time.
