# Adding substrate to a running aquarium, type?



## TylerC (Feb 17, 2011)

I have a tank that is up and running with a full fish load, right now it has the quartz pebbles like you would use with an undergravel filter in it. Is there a substrate that I could mix in with the tank still up and running that could help hold nutrients for the plants better? I can't do the layered approach as i can't break it down. the aquarium has been up for a good amount of time and none of the plants seem to be wasting away but I don't see explosive growth either

Thanks!


----------



## daverock1337 (Mar 14, 2010)

i just switch from gravel to mts (mineralized topsoil) capped with pool filter sand. i put all my fish in a 5 gallon bucket (i have a 29 gallon tank) and drained the tank. i left my filter filled with water to preserve the biological filtering bacteria. i then cleaned out all the gravel, lined the sides with pfs (so you don;t see the layers), filled that with mts, and then capped it with 2 inches sloping to 1 inch in the front of pfs. i then used all new water after replanting to fill the aquarium (using conditioner to remove chlorine of course), added dosing of api stress zyme to help bio filtration, then put my filter back on the tank and tossed the fish back in. this was three days ago, ive been doing tests twice a day since, and have no ammonia spike at all. ph is the same as it always is.

i guess what i am saying is a complete teardown on a running, cycled system is possible, just make sure not to wipe out your bio filters, and adding some extra bacteria also helps.


----------



## RickRS (Dec 20, 2010)

A second possible approach could be to use root tabs in the gravel without changing substrate. It may be cost effective with a DIY approach like this. I have no experience with the idea, but it does seem interesting.


----------



## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

The root tabs are OK if you are no longer using the UGF system. Otherwise the extra water flow through the substrate will simply move the fertilizer into the water column. 

You can add almost any substrate to the gravel. Again, no longer using the UGF. The finer material that has a high cationic exchange capacity will plug up the UGF system. Anything coarser (that still allows water to flow through) is no better than the gravel you currently have. 

Adding material to a running tank can cause cloudiness. One way to get around this is to add only a small amount at any one time, perhaps a few cups a day. 
Another way is to use a piece of pipe (for example 2" PVC) to guide the material into the gravel, and even to push the gravel aside, if there are few or no roots in that spot. Then drop the new material through the pipe. When the water starts clouding, quit until it is clear. 

Some substrates go through a cycle of their own when they are submerged, generating a lot of ammonia for up to a month. If you want to use one of these substrates add it in very small amounts so the plants and bacteria can deal with the ammonia. It might take a couple of months to add enough substrate this way, but some of these are very good materials. Perhaps worth the time it will take.


----------



## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

The root tabs are OK if you are no longer using the UGF system. Otherwise the extra water flow through the substrate will simply move the fertilizer into the water column. 

You can add almost any substrate to the gravel. Again, no longer using the UGF. The finer material that has a high cationic exchange capacity will plug up the UGF system. Anything coarser (that still allows water to flow through) is no better than the gravel you currently have. 

Adding material to a running tank can cause cloudiness. One way to get around this is to add only a small amount at any one time, perhaps a few cups a day. 
Another way is to use a piece of pipe (for example 2" PVC) to guide the material into the gravel, and even to push the gravel aside, if there are few or no roots in that spot. Then drop the new material through the pipe. When the water starts clouding, quit until it is clear. 

Some substrates go through a cycle of their own when they are submerged, generating a lot of ammonia for up to a month. If you want to use one of these substrates add it in very small amounts so the plants and bacteria can deal with the ammonia. It might take a couple of months to add enough substrate this way, but some of these are very good materials. Perhaps worth the time it will take.


----------



## TylerC (Feb 17, 2011)

I like the idea of adding a little at a time, big changes all at once always seem to bite me when I try them (I guess more so in my reef tank)

I don't use a UGF, so that wouldn't be an issue.

What would a good substrate to slowly mix in be?


----------



## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

When I went from plain old gravel to flourite, I changed it a couple of cupfuls at a time. I would rinse the flourite as well as I could, dig out a cupful of the gravel and replace it with the cupful of flourite, very slowly. When I saw clouding, I would stop until the clouding dissipated. I started the exchange process in places that I was placing the plants first. I did a little each time during my weekly water changes. I didn't want to do anything too quickly, to cause an ammonia spike/green water.


----------

