# Changing the substrate



## LondonDragon (21 Feb 2008)

Hello everyone,

Just found your forum today and been reading a lot of posts, haven't really posted anything as I didn't feel the need to add anything else to the posts, as I am a newbie to this planted tank world and so far don't have much knowledge.

I am just wondering whats the best way to go about changing the substrate on a tank that has been running for a while. Can i change it while the fish are in there? What are the dangers other than maybe stressing out some fish?

My tank is heavelly planted at the moment as you can see from the image below, I just want to change the look of the substrate/gravel as I want to create a carpet at the front of HC or glosso. what would you guys recommend?





Hope that I can get some pointers here in the right direction. I also have 3 clown loaches which I want to find a better home for, don't really want to take them back to the store, any other suggestion? Anyone wants to give them a better home?

Many thanks, any help appreciated.


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## nickyc (21 Feb 2008)

Hello and welcome!  

I think your tank looks great - don't underestimate yourself!  

I removed my fish to an old spare tank when I redid mine - siphoned out half of the water and rehoused the fish for the afternoon.  Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  Good luck!


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## TDI-line (21 Feb 2008)

Hello and welcome too.

I always try and keep as much of the old water as possible, and scoop all the old gravel with a new dust pan (not metal). 

I'm thinking about changing my substrat again...


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## nry (21 Feb 2008)

Glosso will likely do OK in your gravel, I was surprised how well it did in my tank with pea gravel in once it got going.


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## Themuleous (21 Feb 2008)

I second the call to not under estimate yourself!! That tank looks quality!!!

If you want to change the substrate, its really a complete strip down, which means taking everything out and starting fresh.  Changing the substrate is a sod of a job, but it can be fun, I tend to take a weekend over it, its quite therapeutic!!!

Sam


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## plantbrain (27 Feb 2008)

I'd suggest the ADA aqua soil alone and some water column dosing, say Tropica line or making the macro ferts with the DIY ferts from AE.

Hard to go wrong this way and then you have both methods to add ferts, the sediment and the water column, this gives you the easiest method to grow plants well and garden without too much cost.

I remove the plants first, then vacuum the sediment, do several water changes to remove the muck, then refill etc.

Then I'll add the new sediment.
I'll add carbon and maybe zeolite in the filter and do water changes 2-3x a week for 1 month.

After that, you are fine.
Gives you a chance to really rework things and get them the way you want.



Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## LondonDragon (17 Mar 2008)

Hi guys, thanks for the replies and positive feedback.

I am really thinking about it now and have decided on the following substrate:

http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... ts_id=1120

and this gravel on top:

http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... ts_id=1208

What do you guys think?

Many thanks


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## Lisa_Perry75 (17 Mar 2008)

For that price you might as well go for aquasoil which is the top notch stuff. Having two substrate types may be nice for all of 5 minutes but it mixes readily, perhaps ruining the effect you wanted to create.


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## LondonDragon (17 Mar 2008)

Lisa_Perry75 said:
			
		

> For that price you might as well go for aquasoil which is the top notch stuff. Having two substrate types may be nice for all of 5 minutes but it mixes readily, perhaps ruining the effect you wanted to create.


Which aquasoil would you recommend?


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## Lisa_Perry75 (17 Mar 2008)

Personally I haven't used aquasoil, but since being stingy and buying aquaclay which is Â£14.99 a bag vs aquasoils Â£27.99 I am regretting it. Plus everyone seems to have awesome results with it. Amano obviously uses it which is the biggest plus, now arguably his second Tom Barr recommends using it.

As soon as I have the money I will be changing over.


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## LondonDragon (17 Mar 2008)

Thanks for the reply. There are 3 types of soil that I have seem Africana, Amazonia and Malaya.
Any specific diferences between the 3? I like the dark colour of the Amazonia, would I need anything else other than that?
I reckon for a Juwel Rio 125 I would need at least two bags of 9 liters??


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## Lisa_Perry75 (17 Mar 2008)

Yeah I worked it out to be 2 bags. I believe different ones have different nutrient levels and colours. There should be a thread about it. I would do a search but you can only do one every 20 seconds or so so give me a few minutes...


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## Lisa_Perry75 (17 Mar 2008)

Here you go! http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=679&p=5461&hilit=africa+malaya+amazonia#p5461


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## Fred Dulley (17 Mar 2008)

I have Malaya in my Rio 125. One 9l bag was fine. Personally aqua soil wouldn't be my first choice for any future tank I do. Mainly because it's just so messy when you move plants around. Huge clouds of "dust". But maybe that's just me, Im just giving you a different opinion.


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## Ed Seeley (17 Mar 2008)

Amazonia is the most widely used and is recommended for rapid plant growth, but it does release ammonia when first used.  If this is a new tank then no worries as there will be no fish in but, if fish are present then you need to do daily large water changes to reduce the levels (They're a good idea when first set up anyway to stop algae getting a foothold IMO).

The other two types are supposed to be formulated for longer term scapes and are different colours.  Richard has all three types on his AE website.

After using Aquasoil for my latest tank I would recommend it wholeheartedly for a planted tank.


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## LondonDragon (19 Mar 2008)

Thanks guys, last Saturday after the re-homing of my Clown Loaches, I have now rescaped the tank creating a lot more open spaces at the front. I have purchased some HC and some glosso is on its way so I will plant that and see how it works out. I got rid of the Riccia as its a pain to maintain.
If I don't get any sucess with my gravel then I will change it.
Many thanks


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