need to change my substrate made a mistake plz help

I need to change my bed out. Have had multiple people on this site tell me i made a mistake by using gravel instead of sand or crushed coral. I need to know how to get the gravel out and the new bed in with out killing my currant fish and and with out restarting a cycle could i just add over the top of the gravel or do i need to pull every thing is there a way to save my water or do i need to completely start over. Or could i just leave it the way it is? I vacuum it weekly and my damsels are fine but they are like indestructible haha. I'm afraid to add more live stock because of this problem please help

 

use a pasta strainer to scoop i out, that way you save the water. and once youve got it all out then do a 40% water change in case you've released any toxins into the water. then next week add the sand, make sure you rinse it very very very well. give it a few days to settle out and then do another big WC.

 

I think gravel is fine for a fish only tank. Just vacuum it regularly. I haven't seen it in a reef tank, but it could probably work if it was kept clean.

If you do decide to change out the gravel, do it very slowly. Remove it over the course of a couple of months, while replacing it with sand.

 

Thank you can anyone tell me why using gravel was a bad choice? I have no plans to for a reef tank its a fowlr tank i do vacuum weekly and levels are ok i really dont want to switch it out if i dont have to but if it is going to be a big problem i will kinda have to

 

In my opinion, the main disadvantage of gravel compared to sand is that there is far less surface area on gravel for bacteria to grow.

Some would also argue more detritus accumulates in gravel than in smaller grained substrates.

 

Moved to ---- Sand.

 

Could i just add over the top of the gravel?

 

You will not be happy with anything less than aragonite now, it will just bug you until you change it out. Do it now while the tank is young.

I would also remove the UGF while you're at it.

You can leave it as is for fish only, but I think you will find after you research and cruise the forum for awhile that you will want to modify and add things.

 

I dont have an under gravel filter just a layer of gravel at the bottom it does get kinda dirty but i keep up on vacuuming it. The goal of this tank was ti house 4 or 5 fish and live rock only i really dont have the money to go into a reef system and i live in an apartment so a sump is not possible. I really just wanted fish in this tank. If gravel will work then i will just keep it...