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67g substrate change, before and after. FOR AUNT KYMMIE!

5K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  LasColinasCichlids 
#1 ·
Tonight I changed the substrate in my 67g tank from large gravel (I think I bought a 50lb bag, for $7 at Home Depot, and used about half the bag) to pool filter sand (a 50lb bag, for $20 at a pool supply store, and used almost all of it). This is all due to my desire for bottom feeders. I used a pet food scoop to remove the old gravel, and then after rinsing the new sand and then giving it a final rinse with dechlorinator in the water I used the pet food scoop to put the new sand in (I used the scoop to put the sand in just to keep the cloudiness down and to avoid dumping a bucketful on top of some poor, unsuspecting fish). After I finished scooping the sand in and replanted, I did a small water change. Working alone, this took 2h48m. I wonder why it looks like there are fewer plants in the tank now than there were before... I never got rid of any...Must have just bunched them differently.


Before:









After:





 
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#7 ·
That looks amazing! You did a great job. What bottom feeders are you thinking of adding? They are going to be in heaven!! Nice work.
I'm also impressed that you did this in less than three hours. I think it took me that long to swap out substrates on an itty bitty 6 gl.
 
#8 ·
thanks! I am thinking of panda cories or yoyo loaches... leaning a bit toward the loaches because i'm hoping they'll help control the snail population... but worried about the things I've heard about them being a bit aggressive sometimes... I really don't want them going after my angelfish because they are quite lovely veiltail ones that I don't see around here that often.

And I think timing myself helped keep me motivated and sped me up considerably. And the suggestion to use a spatula (from my other thread where I was talking about switching), but I bought a pet food scoop instead so I could move larger quantities at a time. Also after rinsing my first bucketful of sand, I opted to rinse smaller batches at a time and take more trips, which I think actually cut the time down considerably because when I tried rinsing more at a time, I must have dumped about 20 buckets of murky water before it was clean, rather than only having to do it 3-4 times for the smaller batches.

And I totally neglected my other pets, too... the dog was locked in her crate, and the cat was locked in the spare room just to keep them out of my way... I was DEFINITELY on a mission.
 
#9 ·
I have Angelicus loaches and Burmese loaches in my 125g, 6 foot long (haha had to throw that part in for Kym) tank. I aslo have a pair of breeding Angels in this same tank. You do see the loaches swim up to the Angels every once in a while (mostly at feeding time), but I have never seen them fin nip and my Angels fins are not damaged. That being said, these tw obreeds of loaches DO punch holes in my Amazon Swords which drives me INSANE. I'm not sure if yoyo loaches will do the same, but wanted to warn you nonetheless.
 
#13 ·
I have Angelicus loaches and Burmese loaches in my 125g, 6 foot long (haha had to throw that part in for Kym) tank. I aslo have a pair of breeding Angels in this same tank. You do see the loaches swim up to the Angels every once in a while (mostly at feeding time), but I have never seen them fin nip and my Angels fins are not damaged. That being said, these tw obreeds of loaches DO punch holes in my Amazon Swords which drives me INSANE. I'm not sure if yoyo loaches will do the same, but wanted to warn you nonetheless.
LOL, very funny Lisa. What I wouldn't give to have an extra foot of space!

I vote for loaches. I have four different species and I love them all. Unlike Lisa, my Burmese and Dwarf Chain loaches leave my swords untouched. But, my yoyos and clowns punch holes in all my swords, or any broad leaved plant.
I keep yoyos with my Discus and have absolutely no problem with that combo. Not sure how like/unlike Angelfish versus Discus but Discus are sedate slow cruisers and my yoyos never bother them at all.
Were it me, I'd have no problem making a decision to keep Angels and Yoyos together. Also, I do not have one snail in any of my tanks where loaches are. They snap them up, suck them out and then play soccer with the empty shells. :shock:
 
#12 ·
Wow I really like it! I liked it before but it looks even better now. I also want to place my vote for corys as your bottom feeder they are my favorite because the are cute and active and do not bother anybody else. LOL
 
#14 ·
Hmm. So, one vote cories, one vote yoyos. I guess I've got some time to agonize over the decision, since I want to make sure I give the new substrate time to establish some bacteria... I will spend that time researching, and waiting for more votes!

edit: I will count Lisa as 1/2 a vote for yoyos.
 
#15 ·
Hmm. So, one vote cories, one vote yoyos. I guess I've got some time to agonize over the decision, since I want to make sure I give the new substrate time to establish some bacteria... I will spend that time researching, and waiting for more votes!

edit: I will count Lisa as 1/2 a vote for yoyos.

I vote cories!!! :) Peppered cories are my favorite!
 
#16 ·
Hmmm, this is tough. Keep in mind what Kym and I both said about he punching of the leaves in the plants though. It is very noticable. That being said, loaches are much more active than corys. I know my corys only become super active at feeding time, most other times you can find them hanging out together in a group (farthest away from the outake of the filter) just resting in a group together. Loaches will bring much more activity to the tank. And I wouldn't be concerned with the Angels.

I suppose I didn't make this decision any easier. This is nothing new for me. ;-)

Kym, perhaps it's just my Angelicus loaches punching the holes. I have a total of 15 loaches in the tank, so it's hard to say who the culprit is.
 
#19 ·
I liked the way your tank looked to begin with, could not figure out why you wanted to change it. Now that I see the after pics, I have to say that the difference is amazing. It DOES look bigger, and a whole lot better. Great job!
 
#22 ·
Thanks!

I am still so pleased with the way it looks... I used to spend a lot of time sitting and staring at the tank... now my problem has only gotten worse.

The fish are loving it too... obviously the loaches are in heaven, and my mollies seem to love it as well... they are always busy picking over it.

I have inspired a couple of my fish keeping friends to change their own tanks, and one has enlisted my help in a surprise makeover for her mom's tank that I believe will be happening tomorrow evening when her dad will be taking her out for supper.
 
#24 ·
Thanks!

I am still so pleased with the way it looks... I used to spend a lot of time sitting and staring at the tank... now my problem has only gotten worse.

The fish are loving it too... obviously the loaches are in heaven, and my mollies seem to love it as well... they are always busy picking over it.

I have inspired a couple of my fish keeping friends to change their own tanks, and one has enlisted my help in a surprise makeover for her mom's tank that I believe will be happening tomorrow evening when her dad will be taking her out for supper.

Awesome idea...surprise tank makeover!! Wish I trusted my boyfriend with my tank, then maybe I would hint around at the idea since my b-day is coming up! lol

To be honest, I think I might be re-doing the substrate in my tank soon too. I currently have Top Fin Caribbean Blue gravel...thinking about going to natural pebbles, river rocks, or a nice sand. Will also be re-stocking my fish in the next couple of weeks, getting rid of my cichlids (have 2 of them), keeping my baby BGK, and going to go with smaller less aggressive fish that wont get bigger than 4 inches.

Thanks for the inspiration to change mine!!! I have pics on my profile (talking about the 29 gallon) any recommendations from your experiance based on the decor??
 
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