Remodel

[fljones3]

I got back into discus after a 15 year absence. Been up and running for 4-5 months. When I set up the tank, I had not yet found this forum but I did know that if I got substrate then it needed to be more fine in order to keep decomposing food from causing bio-load issues. It's gone ... ok ... but I am getting concerned about stuff decomposing that is not making it out of the syphon. I do WC daily to every 2 days. I also totally disturb the gravel when cleaning. In spite of all that, I have a "feeling" that this is a time bomb waiting to happen -- especially the more I read here on the forum.

So, my plan is to remove the gravel and go BB for awhile (might go sand in the future). My wife loves the "pretty" look of the tank but now she loves the discus more. :) I assume that it's best to remove the discus to do this? Any simple procedures or recommendations in this. I have a 75 with 10 4.5-5.5 inch discus. No separate tank - yet (plans are a 20 gal spare). Probably have 75 pounds of gravel.

Frank

[Filip]

Wise decision Frank . You can always add back a thin layer of sand once they are grown and you feed less or you feel confident with them .

The safest way IMO would be to siphon out the gravel gradually , part by part with every WC I.e. get it all out in a course of week siphoning out gradualy with every WC for 7 days .
That way you would give time to your beneficial bacteria to recover and transfer in the filter media and avoid mini cycle .

If you put out your discuss take it all out and perform 100% WC be prepared for changing a lot more water in the first 1-2 weeks until BB get balanced again .

[fljones3]

Wise decision Frank . You can always add back a thin layer of sand once they are grown and you feed less or you feel confident with them .

The safest way IMO would be to siphon out the gravel gradually , part by part with every WC I.e. get it all out in a course of week siphoning out gradualy with every WC for 7 days .
That way you would give time to your beneficial bacteria to recover and transfer in the filter media and avoid mini cycle .

If you put out your discuss take it all out and perform 100% WC be prepared for changing a lot more water in the first 1-2 weeks until BB get balanced again .

Thank you. Thank you. I did not remember about the BB on the gravel! I think I will do 1/4 or 1/3 and take it out over 4 days or so. You saved me a headache for sure.

[Filip]

Im glad I've helped Frank . Thank you too for supporting this place .

Deep gravel bottoms are vast surface area for BB colonies oftentimes much greater than our filter media.Thats why we should be careful taking it out at once .Traped toxic gasses are another thing to be careful about when disturbing the bottom .

If your gravel was dark , be prepared for much better colours on your discus once your change is done .

[fljones3]

Pretty sure I have little trapped gases since I made sure I syphoned deeply twice a week. Even with that, carefulness is in order. Gravel is river bed color.

[fljones3]

Im glad I've helped Frank . Thank you too for supporting this place .

Deep gravel bottoms are vast surface area for BB colonies oftentimes much greater than our filter media.Thats why we should be careful taking it out at once .Traped toxic gasses are another thing to be careful about when disturbing the bottom .

If your gravel was dark , be prepared for much better colours on your discus once your change is done .

Filip,

I ended up removing all the gravel. I will up the water changes and monitor the spike (if any). I got into the remodel and thought ... do I want to do this for 3 days in a row? I didn't.
Took me a couple of hours to get rid of all that gravel, the water change, general cleanup, and added a sponge filter. I am monitoring everything. I also dimmed the tank to help relieve stress. They. are moving around find, nibbling off the bottom, and eating well.

Frank

[Filip]

Legitimate option Frank , as long as you keep the WCs and water quallity in monitor theese couple of days.
And I'm sure you've taken out the discus while you removed the gravel too .
Please share some photos of before and after once your discus are well setteled.

[fljones3]

I don't have many photos of the tank but here is one "before".

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[fljones3]

Here is one "after."

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[fljones3]

Two of my favorites. Actually there is 3 1/2!

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[xKevinx]

Nice.