a few newbie questions

[Lindsey]

I have a few newbie questions that for you all

My first one is about siphons. Is there a certain type/brand that I should get? I've never owned one before and I have always cleaned my tank by rinsing off the gravel (which I have since learned can be more hurtful than beneficial).

Also, how would I go about transitioning from gravel to sand and how much would I need for a 20 gal tank? Would the sand hurt my filter (whisper 20) and if so how would I prevent this?

[emc7]

For a 20 gallon tank, most siphons are are equivalent. Just a siphon hose with a bigger rigid tube for siphoning the gravel. "Gravel-washing" is a good way to get fish poop and uneaten food out of the tank. If you do some of the tank every week during you water change it will never get too bad. For larger tanks, you might consider a Python or other device than can fill the tank from the faucet. For a 20, I'd just use a 5 gallon bucket.

However, its not always recommended to gravel-wash when you are "cycling the tank" because one of the places your filter bacteria can live is on the gravel's surface. IMO unless the gravel has water flowing through it (like a UG filter) the amount of bacteria there is negligible compared to the whats in the filter. However, if you have "seeded" the tank with gravel from an established tank, washing the gravel well is counter-productive.

If sand gets in the impeller, it will grind it down and make it wobble and be noisy. Putting a sponge over the intake grate should prevent this. You can buy a sponge "pre-filter" or make your own out of aquarium filter sponge.

You really can't transition gently from one substrate to another. If you have two in the tank, one must be in a bag or it will all get mixed together. If you decide to switch to sand, you take out the gravel and put in well-rinsed sand and trust the filter to carry your tank's biology.

I understand that the crud is more likely to sit on the surface of the sand than gravel. This makes it ugly, so people siphon more often. But it goes faster because you only go over the surface, rather than sucking up the gravel to get the crud underneath.