# Doing gravel change, when can I put fish back in?



## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

I just completed a massive gravel/water change on my 30G tank as I wanted to add some eco complete in there. Ended up keeping most of my original gravel as well as placing a lot of it in my 10 gallon where I have my 7 Cherry Barbs. The 10 gal is uncycled and only has a sponge filter (and a heater) so I don't want to keep them in there too long.

I also got all of my 12 Ghost Shrimp (was amazed to see all 12 were still alive, have had them since the beginning of the tank) in a large bowl on the dining room table...after a couple suicide attempts I found a good lid for them.

I put all my plants and ornaments back into the main tank and plugged in the filter/heater. It's pretty cloudy but not nearly as it was while removing the gravel.

When should I put the fish and shrimp back into the aquarium, and should I acclimate them or will they be fine with an instant switch? I worry about my shrimp somewhat because I had to turn the air conditioner on and the bowl my shrimp are in will start getting pretty cool soon. Should I just put them in the 10G with the Barbs, or should I put them in the main tank right away, or will they be fine? (When I first got them I had two jump from a bowl into the cat's cold water, I freaked and netted him and dumped him into the aquarium...he lived.)

So should I wait for the water to be entirely clear, or can I put the fish back in relatively soon?


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Cycle your 30G as though it is a new tank, though with plants it should cycle quickly. Barbs are tough so I would introduce 2 of them now to the 30G. If they do fine I would introduce the rest of them in a week. Any fish or shrimp you add to the 30G, do it slowly for the next few weeks. I have had no experience with your shrimp so I don't know how they would do in a cycling environment. Genrally Inverts don't like to be shocked by new water conditions.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

He already has the fish in an uncycled tank, If you kept the media wet in your filter and your deco wet, and hasn't been more than 4 hours you should be able to put the fish back in with only a mini cycle.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If you can see the back glass, put your fish back in. I've done 3 gravel changes on heavily stocked tanks and never saw any cycling issues from it.


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

susankat said:


> He already has the fish in an uncycled tank, If you kept the media wet in your filter and your deco wet, and hasn't been more than 4 hours you should be able to put the fish back in with only a mini cycle.


Yeah, everything was kept in water. I had one of the decorations in the 10G with the Barbs, one in the bowl with the shrimp, and the other in a bucket with the gravel I took out and full of water from the original tank. The 30G was at about half capacity when I put the eco in and put in conditioned water to fill it back up to near 100% and started the filter/heater. After about 30 mins I siphoned out some of the leftover debris and such and probably took out another 35% of the water before replacing that as well. I put back nearly all of the original gravel.

Both tanks were at around 81 degrees F but room temp was going from 80 to 74 quick with the AC on so I decided to replace half the water in the shrimp bowl and about 30% of the water in the 10G with water from the 30G. After 30 minutes I put both the shrimp and Barbs back into the 30G and they seem fine (Barbs chasing each other around and shrimp are swimming around and foraging off the few pellets I put in there). Water has cleared up and looks crystal clear. I might have lost a shrimp in the process of moving them from the bowl to the 30G. 3-4 jumped out and I recovered 3 of them but there could have been one behind the tank in an unreachable area.

Whole process lasted about 3-4 hours I imagine.



NeonShark666 said:


> Cycle your 30G as though it is a new tank, though with plants it should cycle quickly. Barbs are tough so I would introduce 2 of them now to the 30G. If they do fine I would introduce the rest of them in a week. Any fish or shrimp you add to the 30G, do it slowly for the next few weeks. I have had no experience with your shrimp so I don't know how they would do in a cycling environment. Genrally Inverts don't like to be shocked by new water conditions.


I appreciate your caution, but I don't think such measures were necessary. The tank is only a month or two old and the water is coming from the same source, etc etc, so there couldn't be that drastic of a difference between the water. Before I did the change ammonia was under .25 ppm, nitrites 0, nitrates 50 ppm. Testing now shows ammonia and nitrite the same, nitrate at 10-20 ppm. I'll monitor the tank closely this week to see if the ammonia levels rise, if they get over .5 ppm I'll do a 25% water change, above 1 ppm I'll do a 40-50% change, doing only one change a day.


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## giddetm (Apr 30, 2011)

I am interested to see if you have any casualties overnight.


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

giddetm said:


> I am interested to see if you have any casualties overnight.


I'm not sure if your interest is sincere or if you're trying to express your disapproval in my methods. Either way, I'll be sure to keep you informed. I've had my casualties in the past and only 4 of my original 10 or so Barbs survived, but fortunately I don't believe I've ever had a death from shock..some of these fish have been through a lot.

Another question...are root tabs still necessary with the eco gravel? Would it just be overkill or is there still some extra growth to be achieved with the addition of some tabs?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

FWIW, every gravel change I've done I only removed any fish on one of them and the one I did remove some it wasn't all of them. No casualties.


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## smurfette1175 (Dec 17, 2010)

I just changed all the gravel in my 55 and it took 6 hours by myself. I couldn't see the bottom to put the plants in so did it by feel. The tank was still cloudy by 50% when I added the fish back. Its been 2 weeks and no losses, and luckily no spikes in ammonia or nitrites. So I wouldn't worry too much.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

you can put them in soon but keep a check on the parameters and do water changes and add prime accordingly. Definitely acclimate them! you'll probably still have enough biofilter bacteria to sustain your fish. 

Root tabs could be beneficial but watch your plant growth for about two weeks before you add them. It could promote algae growth if you add too many nutrients into the tank. Add them if your plants look like they need them.


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