Moving discus for rescape

[Big-Ken]

I just moved my discus into my 90g show tank a week ago and it has gravel substrate and I decided that I want to switch to pool filter sand to keep all the junk on top for easy clean up, I should have done it before I moved the discus but I didn't think about it.

My question is will moving them to a temporary tank for a day while I make the change be too stressful for them so soon after just getting moved, they are 3.5-4"

[nabilbb]

any move of Discus is stressfull, even WC is stressfull for them but you got to do what you have to do

[strawberryblonde]

I moved mine quite a bit when they were that size. I just plopped them into a bucket with a heater and a sponge filter (airstone would work too), set them in a dark quite place and then went about my rescaping business. A week later, I bought a brand new tank, yanked them out, put them in a bucket... plopped the fish that came with the new tank into the "old" rescaped tank, cleaned and scaped the new tank and plopped my little discus into it.

They were totally fine with two moves in a weeks time. All they cared about was getting fed. LOL

[DiscusDrew]

I agree with Strawberry (seems to be a pattern there ;) ) I move my discus quite a bit pulling pairs or right now because of the new fish room going up they have been moved several times so I can get tanks where I need them to be and cleaned perfectly. It really should not be a big deal or a big stresser if the fish are healthy, honestly mine are pretty used to being handled especially the adults so I dont get much hassle from them. I handle them quickly, in my case I dont use nets as I dont like the risk of eye scratching, I just use my hands and always move them with a huge water change so they are easy to catch, put them in a bucket if Im working on the tank with air and heat, or use a bowl to move them directly to another tank if thats what im doing. Dont over-think it, they will be just fine if they are healthy.

[DiscusDrew]

And Idk about water changes being stressful, it happens every day (in my case) so they should always be used to it after about a month or so. My fish LOVE water changes, even more than food it seems, they peck at my python and my hands while Im draining the water, so curious they are, then the refill is their favorite part, when the sump pump comes on from the aging barrels they dart into the water current and love their little swim for the day haha.

[Lenin]

I did the same thing, all I did is take out anything in the tank first, then I moved the gravel out with a fish net, then I added the sand, I did it in one day, what I did have is a big strong filter sucking all the debry while I was doing it. I placed the sand in and the next morning it was done.

You can also start by removing the gravel little by little every day and do the same for getting the sand back in.

[Big-Ken]

Thanks everyone for the responses, this its my first experience with discus so I'm being a little over cautious.

I wish I could do it a little at a time but there is a pretty substantial piece of drift wood in the tank that is being held down by the substrate so if I remove the gravel with out removing water it will float to the top and possibly crush my discus in the process so a complete tear down is the only option