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I've had a white sand substrate in my 80 gallon mbuna tank for a long time now, and I'm ready to be rid of it. It is very difficult to keep clean and algae tends to grow on it and form clumps, also I plan to convert this tank into a planted discus set-up when I return from overseas and figured I might as well start making slow changes in this direction anyway. Just before Christmas I bought some small-sized, natural (reddish-brown) gravel and did all the preparation. Now I'm itching to make the changeover, especially as I've been holding off doing my post-holiday water change knowing that I would be doing this soon anyway.

It really seems to me that this is going to be a full tank tear-down operation, removing all the water, rocks and fish so that I can access the sand. But before I go ahead with that, I just wanted to check if there were any innovative ideas floating around for a way to avoid it. I will take the fish out no matter what, as I don't want to stress them, but do I need to remove all the water? Part of the reason I ask is because I try to be water-conscious in the face of our drought here in Australia, and refilling an entire 80 gallon tank concerns me (though the old water will be going straight out onto the garden). However, I can imagine that if I leave water in and try to remove the sand it's just going to swirl up into the water column and I will have to periodically wait for it to settle so I can get it all out. In that case I suppose I could not worry about it, get most of it out and assume that the rest will come out over time when I vaccuum the gravel.

Any thoughts?

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

You could save all the water in those very large black rubbish bins (Bunnings) they can come in very handy.

You can place all your plants and rocks in there as well just add the heater and airation/filter.

When it is completly empty you can take it outside and give it a real good cleaning inside and out.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

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It's an 80 gallon tank so I don't think I'll be taking it outside .

I've left all of the water in for now and just slowly scooping out the sand. It actually seems to be working quite well. When I've got most of it, I'll vacuum the bottom, pull out about 50% of the water and clean the glass etc. That should get most of the sand, probably only a very small amount will be left that will come out in later water changes.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

You can vacuum the sand with the water in a bucket & them leave it to settle & put the water back in the tank & remove the sand from the bucket.

You can vacuum the sand by using a 1 inch pipe & you'll vacuum it very easily.



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I agree with jasonpisani. I once used a gravel vac with 5/8" tubing for small gravel once, and it sucked the gravel right up if I wasn't careful, so I'd imagine sand would be no problem at all. Siphon into a bucket or empty trash bin, wait 20 minutes for the sand to settle, and carefully pour the water back into the tank.

Make sure you take the filter out before you start stirring up sand, too!

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

dont use the entire gravel vac just rip the hose off and use that and stuff it right in the sand. the deeper and quicker you get it through the sand the less water will be removed. i removed about 40lbs of sand from my 75g this way. once a week during my normal water change i would suck out sand while takeing water out. you could like was suggested and suck it into a bucket, let sit and syphon the clear water back into the tank.

Thanks for the advice, it all went much easier than I expected in the end. I took out all the rocks first off, caught two fish, but the rest just wouldn't be caught and it seemed I was causing them more stress by chasing them around with the net than I would by doing it all with them in there, so I left them to it. I scooped most of the sand out by hand into a container on the bottom of the tank, emptied it into a larger bucket on the floor. Sounds tedious, but really it didn't take long at all. The gravel vaccuum picked up the remaining bits on the bottom really easily. I only took out about 40% of the water in the end. Cleaned the glass, put the gravel in, filled it back up. The gravel was still a bit dusty and clouded the water so I turned the filter on for a while to help clear it so I could see where I was putting the rocks. All this time the fish were calm as anything, going about their usual business - these little guys have been through a lot of moves and tank changes, so I don't think much fazes them anymore! Put the rocks in and let the fish explore their new home. This morning the tank is perfectly clear and the fish are loving the new environment - they've already started to arrange the gravel to their liking, of course.

All in all about 2 hours of work - not hard at all. I'm really glad I made the effort because I am extremely pleased with the way it turned out.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Photo%20Booth/67904.html?200601101043 <- for pics.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde