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Adding more gravel to my established tank

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  hackett896 
#1 ·
I recently bought a 75 gallon tank which was previously established with African Cichlids, and the previous owner did not have a lot of substrate at the bottom of the tank. I was thinking about adding more gravel to the already existing gravel bed, but I have a couple questions. First, what is the easiest way to add the gravel to an already established tank, and second, will adding new gravel affect the water clarity?

Tank Setup -

75 gallon aquarium
Emperor 400 BioWheel HOB Filter
Emperor 280 BioWheel HOB Filter
300 watt water heater
CoralLife aquarium light (changing though - too hot)
 
#2 ·
It's completely up to you, but you might consider switching to sand substrate. You didn't specify what fish you are planning to keep, but if you are wanting africans, they like to sift through the sand.

Adding more gravel isn't a big deal, you just put it in there. It's sometimes a little dusty, it wouldn't hurt to rinse it in buckets. I wouldn't get carried away with the gravel. The less you have in there, the easier it will be to remove waste with a gravel vac. I used to have around 3 inches and had to reduce it by half. I eventually made the switch to pool filter sand though and am much happier with that.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the advice. I just want to get one more bag so I have a little more on bottom to hide the glass. In some spots the glass shows. No matter how much I spread it out, the fish keep moving it. As for the fish, I am not too sure what they all are, so far I have narrowed it down to the following:

1. (1 ea) Cynotilapia afra (Afra Yellow Mara)
2. (1 ea) Metriaclima Estherae (Blueberry OB Zebra)
3. (1 ea) Metriaclima lombardoi (Kenny)
4. (2 ea) melanochromis auratus albino (Albino Auratus)
5. (1 ea) Pseudotropheus Crabro(Bumble Bee)
6. (1 ea) Hypostomus plecostomus

This is not all of them, this is just what I have been able to identify. There are 6 others in the tank I have still to identify.
 
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