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i'm considering swapping the substrate in my tropical tank from gravel to sand. i know this sounds like a stupid question but i was wondering how i actually went about putting the sand into the tank after it's been cleaned. Do i need to drain the tank first or do i just put it in with the water already in the tank. i'm so confused. Please help me

I just did this last night, but I noticed no change in water paramaters. I first drained the tank completely, saving as much water as possible. Keeping the fish and decorations in the water. I then took all of the gravel out, saving some of it also in tank water, and dumped the bottom layer of water, was brown by this point with fish poo. Then I added the sand and some of the water, did my aquascaping and added the fish and rest of the water. It seemed to work great, and the I only lost about 10% of the water(my regular water change). My fish seemed unaffected by this process, I kept a filter, heater, and cover on the tub holding the fish. Hope this helps.

It is easier if you have less water in the tank when you do it, but it is possible to add sand to a set up tank.

Turn off the filters or move them to a bucket to run.
Remove fish if possible.
Using a bowl or large yougurt container slowly and gently add the sand by lowering it into the tank then gently tipping it over. The idea is to not just dump the sand in which will cause it to stay suspended in teh water (easily picked up by the filter).
Then just let the tank sit for as long as possible...don't leave the filters off for much more than an hour.


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i haven't tryed live plants in my tanks yet and am looking into this area aswell. would plants/and what plants would grow well in a sand substrate tank?

Few do well in sand as it has a tendency to compact thereby crushing the roots. One trick is to use plants like java fern and moss that will root to driftwood. Crypts are one I hear does well in sand but I havent' tried it personally.

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Be careful when adding water to the tank after you put in your sand substrate. The sand should be throughly rinsed to eliminate dust like particulate. However, you will still have the ability to create a dust cloud in your tank if you try to add water too quickly.

A great regimen is to place your damp substrate, add your plants and then slowly trickle water over a plate in the bottom of the tank. Continue until you can increase the water flow without stirring up the substrate. If the tank begins to "dust up" siphon it down and go slower when you fill it... good luck!

By the way, if you don't want dust and you like a black substrate that works well for plants - try EcoComplete by CaribSea. I have it in a 125G and I love it!

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