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BT Fish Guy asked in PetsFish · 6 years ago

Re-doing tank completely, but I do not want to kill my fish please help 😁 how can I do it?

Hello, so I have a 29 gallon and I want to re do it, I just went out and got all new plants and a piece of driftwood! And I did also get a black small stone substrate, almost sand kinda... Anyway how can I do all this so I don t kill my fish I have now please help I m doing it this weekend and need to know, thank you!! :)

1 Answer

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    6 years ago

    1. Do not ever"re do" a tank completely.

    2. Keep most of the old water

    3. Do not clean, or over clean the filter materials; some should always remain dirty and wet to keep the beneficial bacteria alive

    4. Keep the fish and filter materials in containers of old tank water while you remove the old gravel etc

    5. Make sure to thoroughly rinse the new gravel before you start this project, and soak driftwood for a week or two at least, before putting in the tank.

    6. If "new plants"means plastic plants, then put them in. If you mean live plants then make sure you understand how to properly run a live plant tank, (correct lights, suitable substrates,low fish load, etc. Otherwise do not use live plants)

    7. Put back the old water and dirty filter, top off with some new de-chlorinated water and return the fish to the tank

    8. If you've matched the temperature properly and not stressed the fish too much they should be ok

    9. Do not freak out and over clean if the tank is cloudy. Feed less food and just wait and do a small normal cleaning and gravel vacuuming in a few days or a week; it should clear up on its own

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