fishinboots Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I've only got one tank and want to totally change it. I got my tank from an existing owner and I want to change the aquascape to suit cichlids more. Anyway, the tank has been set up for nearly a year now, with a well established ecosystem. I want to completely change everything, such as, the wall paper, substate and even start planting. To do this, I would have to completely drain all the water and ruin the bacteria I have built up? what to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 if you keep the filter going in a bucket of tank water your bateria colony should stay intact enough to keep everything ok. Then strip the tank to bits & start a fresh. If you are paranoid, chuck some old substrate in a media bag to help it along some more. hop to it & get before & after pics!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishinboots Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 isn't changing all that water bad though, and where do i put the fish in the meantime? a bucket o.O? The wallpaper is glued on from the inside. I guess I could just rip it out with say half or 1/3 of the water in and put the new one one on the other side of the glass, outside. Then just scoop the other substrate with the water still there? I imagine it would get murky and be troublesome for the fish... is there a propper method in doing this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakes Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 hi, you didn't say what sorta cichlids you have but in any case i think it would be safer if you can retain at least 20%-30% of the water volume. This will also help in retaining bacteria. It will be murky as hell but if you have a good filter it will clear up quickly. The fish would find it less stressful if you could store them in a bucket during the process. Aerate & heat it (if necessary) so that you don't have to rush the job. I always like to do major re-vamps in the mornings too, so the fish have the rest of the day to settle back down. cheers Glenn ps. if you don't expect the job to take longer than a couple of hours it's not critical to keep the filter running. Just so long as it's immersed in tank water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishinboots Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 thankyou, that clears things right up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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