# Saving Gravel



## AlethiaTessen20 (Jul 11, 2014)

I just got done tearing down my 110 gallon, it had about a 3" substrate that consisted of a mix of fine eco complete, floramax and fluorite, i was wondering if i need to store it wet, or can i dry it out and store it?

if i can dry it i was thinking of laying it out on a tarp in the sun.


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## junebug (Aug 5, 2013)

If you dry it out, it'll lose a lot of nutrients and BB. Other than that, it won't hurt the substrate. I've done it, mostly by accident lol. Then plopped it in a new tank, added plants and fish, and bam.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

For beneficial bacteria to survive, the substrate needs to be both wet and exposed to oxygen. Storing it moist in thin layers in plastic bags that are opened periodically would work. But really, this is a lot of trouble, especially if you have enough for a 110, and you need to store it for very long at all. If you are going to use it in a new tank soon, it might be worth it. But if this is long term storage, I would not bother.


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## pandragon (Jul 10, 2014)

I agree with Michael, keeping the bacteria alive could be a tricky pain for that much gravel. Maybe you can make a couple moist bags like Michael was saying and dry the rest so that you have a BB starter? I don't know how long you could keep it alive for, but if you need to wait a while before setting the tank back up doing so might help cycle tank a bit faster. 

Good Luck!
pandragon


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