I have no idea what to do!!!!!

[Vesuvius]

I want to take the gravel out of my community tank and replace it with sand, but if i do this I have no place to house the 32 fish I already have in the tank while the tank would have to settle and cylce. Any idea how long this would take to do, cycle and stuff? Is it even a good idea for my tank to have sand in it? Where should I purchase the sand and what type of sand? Help?

[Fishfirst]

Its fine for you to replace your gravel with sand (although I would be wary of your tank going through a mini cycle) I would buy some inexpensive rubbermaid bins and fill them with your tank water. Put your fish in there and then take the gravel out and put the sand bed in. I would purcase sand from your local pet store or sandblaster sand from home depot. In order to cut down the amount of debris in your sand thourghly wash it... and when you put it in the tank have a decoration take the brunt of your pouring.

[TheOldSalt]

Why on earth would you want to do such a thing, anyway?

[Fishfirst]

I think its mainly because sand doesn't allow dead stuff to sit and rot under the sand as it does with gravel... or it makes it look more natural... but thats just my theory

[UgLy_eLf]

If you've got an extra tank laying around you can syphon the tank water in there and keep your fish in that tank while you change from gravel to sand. Oh and keep the excess water that doesnt fit into the other tank in some jugs or rubbermaid's like fishfirst said.