Opinion please

[Obsidian]

I am working hard on gathering the courage to change the tanks gravel out so it is purely gravel and no sand, and all of the little pebbles are gone.

How big of a bag of old gravel should I hang in the tank? I don't want to rely just on the filter's biology as it is a pretty well stocked tank, I just don't know how much extra I should keep in the meantime.

Also I am thinking it won't much matter to keep any of the old water as that is not where the biology is BUT it is where the Ph is. How much should I keep to help maintain the tanks Ph? My tap is 8.0 and the tank is 7.0-7.4 I haven't checked in a bit so I think it has lowered from the 7.4.

I have peat moss I can put in the filter to help keep it down pretty quickly, but it still won't be instant.

[lohachata]

save about 50% of the water..1 or 2 lbs of the old gravel in a bag(media bag or section of pantyhose) and placed in the filter will do the trick..

[Obsidian]

oooo I sense a chance to maybe get rid of the snails. I am not bleaching the tank which wouldn't help anyway as the pesky things are on the plants.

Do you think that I can put in some snail be gone kind of thing while it's empty (gets the snails on the bottom of the tank), then add the gravel and finish filling with water- making sure the appropriate amount of snail rid nuclear stuff is in there to kill the ones on the plants once they are replanted?

Will having that in the water hurt my dwarf rubberlip pleco? (I have given her this name since the darn thing never grew). I know it's usually fine with other fish, just not so sure about the pleco.

[lohachata]

should be fine for the pleco...not so fine for inverts..

[Obsidian]

Okay so I forgot how hard it is for me to catch fish LOL. Those fish are spending the night in their tub because no way I can do all of this and catch them again tonight without going insane. LOL. THe Marts didn't have snail stuff so I shall just live with a return of the snails. They don't bug me really- what gets me is their dumb shells get sucked into the vac and then I have to unclog it to finish LOL.

I found some really nice black gravel at PetCo. It is a larger pebble which isn't awesome but it has very round soft edges and it looks really nice- in the bag. I will let you know about in the tank Ha ha! It is the PetCo brand and I think it will help my cories with their barbel issues.

[Angelclown]

You could give the snails to someone who has clown loaches. My clown loaches haven't had live food for years.

[Obsidian]

Angel they are MTS, not the kind you can really gather and give away, they get onto everything and you can't get rid of them. They are little PITA's. I am going to rinse everything off as good as I can which may help slow down the return, but eventually they will return. They stay int he gravel so really are not bad, they are great for aerating it.

I got too much gravel but I think I am going to keep it deep, I think it will be better for my plants roots, if they ever grow them LOL.