# consequences of repositioning the substrate



## Amazonaquascaper (Sep 20, 2015)

Hi everyone,
So i will soon start to rescape my aquarium(major rescape) repositioning plant gravel and rocks changing the decor
I was browsing when i came across a post saying that most of the bacteria are found in the substrate and disturbing the latter may count as 'cycle crash'...my idea was to vacuum most of the water and move all the fish in the water until i finish repositioning gravel adding new rocks and replanting the plants and add the fish back it would take approx. 1/2 an hour to complete also i wanted to add dirt in the tank actually on top rather than covered under the substrate will it be ok?
So can i add the the fish straight back after doing this rescape or should i wait till the tank recycle again 
Comments would be appreciated..


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

If you can skim the top layer of gravel and save that, this is where most of the nitrifying bacteria are. Keep it damp, and in an area with good oxygen supply. When you are done 'scaping, use this reserved gravel on the top. 

You can add more bacteria from a bottle. Read the label, and look for a product that contains Nitrospira species of bacteria. Tetra Safe Start & Dr. Tim's One and Only are two I know of with the right species.

Besides, where would you keep the fish? Do you have another source of bacteria that is more developed than this tank? Most people do not. So the fish have a choice of a completely uncycled tank, or one that is pretty much cycled but may have a few blips of ammonia or nitrite. I know I would much rather put the fish back into a tank that has a pretty good bacteria population, and plenty of plants.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Agreed.

If you have a mature biofilter on this tank, take it off during the process and keep it running in the temporary quarters for your fish. Don't clean it, unless it is clogged. When you are finished, the mature filter will help to prevent any ammonia or nitrite spikes.

Unless you are really interested in the experiment, I do not recommend putting the soil on top of the gravel. Soil without a cap is very messy, and the slightest disturbance will cloud the water and clog the filter.


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## Amazonaquascaper (Sep 20, 2015)

I will put the fish in a half cut 100 liters plastic barrel and will run the canister in there until i finish scaping


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## Amazonaquascaper (Sep 20, 2015)

Michael851714 said:


> Agreed.
> 
> Unless you are really interested in the experiment, I do not recommend putting the soil on top of the gravel. Soil without a cap is very messy, and the slightest disturbance will cloud the water and clog the filter.


I didnt want to cap it bcoz i didn't want to let it mix with my sand...
Is there any techniques to separate the two mixtures if ever they mixed together?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

There isn't any practical way to separate the soil from gravel or sand if they are mixed, except for washing the gravel and losing the soil. But it won't hurt anything if soil and gravel/sand become mixed as long as you have a cap to keep the soil in place.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Gravel can be sieved out of sand or soil, but it is tedious. 
If you want to set up different areas of the tank to have sand, gravel and soil, you can use substrate dividers. This would be to make a path or stream bed sort of appearance out of sand and grow the plants in soil on the sides of the 'stream'. 
No way to layer these materials and keep them separate.

Test some of the dirt you want to add. 
Put a handful or two in a jar of water and test the water every few days to see if the dirt creates ammonia.


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## Amazonaquascaper (Sep 20, 2015)

Diana K said:


> Test some of the dirt you want to add.
> Put a handful or two in a jar of water and test the water every few days to see if the dirt creates ammonia.


I have already mineralized my dirt for two and a half week im waiting for my aquascaping pincette to come from ebay...


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## Amazonaquascaper (Sep 20, 2015)

Im annoyed....15+ of my neon tetra died since yesterday,is there any thread about these type of thing where i can post this. Of all these fish only the neon are dying ,im removing 2-3 every couple half hour .I've check the ph more than once it's quite low about 5.0-5.5 but all other fish look ok you know im talking about the fish in my signature they seem fine but the neon look ill some are hanging at the top with reddish brown gills i thought about nitrogen toxicity but im not sure about it because of my low ph before they die they started to loose balance then after some minutes float up if ever i saw one starting to become dizzy i immediately get it out and put it in my smaller tank outside ,miraculously it got fine and start to swim normally again the differences from these two tanks are the larger has a canister filter but the smaller one got no filtration at all, the larger one is aerated with an air pump but not the smaller one the only gases are mainly oxygen and carbon dioxide from the smaller tank ,the smaller have saturated oxygen causing pearling but not the larger one,the smaller one is already dirt bottomed but not the larger one,the ph is neutral in the smaller but quite acidic in the larger one,there's no defficiency of nutrients in the smaller one but i recently discovered magnesium and calcium defficiencies in the larger tank that's why i will rescape my aquarium and add dirt...
Comment pls, im almost going to abandon fishkeeping im losing faith help pls


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Your account of what is happening is confusing and difficult to follow. But if the neons recover when you move them to another tank, why don't you move them all right away?

I suspect that water conditions in the current neon tank have deteriorated in some way that is fatal to neons, but which can be tolerated by the other species. If you don't want to move the neons, try numerous large water changes.


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

I hate to say this but neon tetras just tend to b delicate fish. I dont think their death has anything to due with u but is rather a consequence of the place u bought them. I remember buying some from a local fish store and he used to complain all the time about them - the stock he got in was always of poor quality. And yes, many of the ones i bought died as well. And unfortunately, he was a small store so he didnt have much choice of who to get them from. 

I would just cut ur loses and try ordering from someplace else. I would avoid the big pet retailers for fish (they tend to cator to dogs and cats more anyways) and frequent a local fish store. Ask them about their stock and who they get their fish from. Or try a reputable internet store like Rachael Oleary @ msjinkxed (sp?).


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## Amazonaquascaper (Sep 20, 2015)

Michael thank you for your reply...
It was actually nitrite poisoning but in its acidic form nitrous acid...
Ive done a 60% wc and they are now okay
Thank you too JeffyFunk


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