Transfer of Gravels

**cbong** · 27th Mar 2005, 22:50

After months of consideration, I have decided on a 5 x 2 x 2 feet tank.Need to transfer my existing 4 feet tank gravel to the new tank. Few questions:

a. Short of giving away my pencils, hatcets, cardinals, ottos, saes, rams, white clouds, blue-eyed lamps, what can I do till the new tank recycles??? How long should I wait?

b. Need to clean the existing lapis sand thoroughly?

c. What should I be careful of in order not to 'crash' the new set-up?

Thanks!

**|squee|** · 27th Mar 2005, 22:59

There's no need to clean actually, just transfer them over. Because there's lots of BB in the gravel, you'll have a instantly cycled tank.

**cbong** · 27th Mar 2005, 23:06

Originally Posted by |squee|

There's no need to clean actually, just transfer them over. Because there's lots of BB in the gravel, you'll have a instantly cycled tank.

Should I totally avoid the base fertilisers?

**BFG** · 28th Mar 2005, 09:26

Skim off the top layer of your sand as much as possible. Wash this clean. Anything remaining would have been mixed with the base fert already so you could use that as a pre-mix base fert. This would go in 1st into the 5ft tank. If the amount of this mixed base fert is still not enough in your opinion, you could add additional new base fert to make the desired thickness of your substrate. The sand that you have collected and wash earlier would be used to cover your mixed base fert. But I believe you may need extra amount of lapis as you have a longer tank than the previous setup.

**Goondoo** · 28th Mar 2005, 16:16

Originally Posted by BFG

Skim off the top layer of your sand as much as possible. Wash this clean. Anything remaining would have been mixed with the base fert already so you could use that as a pre-mix base fert. This would go in 1st into the 5ft tank. If the amount of this mixed base fert is still not enough in your opinion, you could add additional new base fert to make the desired thickness of your substrate. The sand that you have collected and wash earlier would be used to cover your mixed base fert. But I believe you may need extra amount of lapis as you have a longer tank than the previous setup.

Ditto BFG.

Also, you can consider adding some used sand below at the rear of the tank to raise the level of the back before adding base ferts. This could save you some base ferts usage at the back if you are considering having a greater sloping effect.

**cbong** · 28th Mar 2005, 19:19

Thanks a million.

I may need only minimum new lapis. My current tank has 3 inches of sand front and 5 inches of sand back. Too thick I suppose, therefore may add base fert and recycle lapis. Appreciate your guidances!

**PeterGwee** · 28th Mar 2005, 19:32

If you have the dough, I would rather you get something like flourite which is rich in Fe and traces and does not look tacky after you uproot plants. I don't really like the looks of the substrate with JBL Aquabasis and Lapis gravel mixed into one.

Regards
Peter Gwee

**cbong** · 28th Mar 2005, 20:22

Originally Posted by PeterGwee

If you have the dough, I would rather you get something like flourite which is rich in Fe and traces and does not look tacky after you uproot plants. I don't really like the looks of the substrate with JBL Aquabasis and Lapis gravel mixed into one.

Regards
Peter Gwee

How much dough are we looking at for a 5 feet? An example of brand for flourite??

**PeterGwee** · 28th Mar 2005, 20:39

Originally Posted by cbong

How much dough are we looking at for a 5 feet? An example of brand for flourite??

A substrate from the Company Seachem. Well, from my estimation, you would probably need 10-12 bags of it (7kg per bag)...cost...$400-$500..

Regards
Peter Gwee

**cbong** · 28th Mar 2005, 20:57

woow!!! tak boleh tahan! Already will be 3.5k poorer due to the upgrade.

Anyway, out of curousity, does this mean that there is no other additional mix required with the Seachem flourite? Just flourite alone?

**PeterGwee** · 28th Mar 2005, 21:05

Originally Posted by cbong

woow!!! tak boleh tahan! Already will be 3.5k poorer due to the upgrade.

Anyway, out of curousity, does this mean that there is no other additional mix required with the Seachem flourite? Just flourite alone?

Yup, except for peat and mulm for initial startups.

Regards
Peter Gwee

**cbong** · 3rd Apr 2005, 21:46

Peter,

how much peat and mulm are we looking at? BTW, where do you get peat from?

**|squee|** · 3rd Apr 2005, 21:52

Go to your nearby Home-Fix or DIY store, look for Peat Moss, it's in a green bag at the gardening section, brand's Horti. I hope that's the peat we are talking about

**cbong** · 3rd Apr 2005, 21:59

Any clue how much to put for a 5 x 2 x 2? Thanks

**PeterGwee** · 3rd Apr 2005, 22:14

Add 1/4" of pre-wetted peat coupled with the same amount of mulm from an established tank and then cap it off with 3-4" of whichever preferred substrate that you like.

Regards
Peter Gwee

**cbong** · 3rd Apr 2005, 22:44

Originally Posted by PeterGwee

Add 1/4" of pre-wetted peat coupled with the same amount of mulm from an established tank and then cap it off with 3-4" of whichever preferred substrate that you like.

Regards
Peter Gwee

Can I use the mulm (black stuff) in the external cannister filter to do the job? Plus whatever I can siphon from the surface of the gravel? How to get 1/4" thick, so much

?

**PeterGwee** · 3rd Apr 2005, 23:00

Yes, thats what you want...the stuff that settles at the bottom of the canister filter and what you can vac out from your gravel surface. 1/4" isn't a lot if you include a bit of water...plus you have the 4 feet tank to extract from..

Regards
Peter Gwee

**cbong** · 3rd Apr 2005, 23:26

Thanks M A S T E R !!!

**vinz** · 4th Apr 2005, 11:35

Me thinks we might need a "we are not worthy" smilies to feed the egos of our moderators...

Just kidding.

Thread: Transfer of Gravels

Thread Tools

Transfer of Gravels

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions