Ada Amazonia In Established Tank

erebos

New Member
May 24, 2020
5
1
3
USA
I'm planning on swapping out my Black Diamond blast sand substrate for ADA Amazonia in my 1 year old cycled and planted 10 gallon tank. I've searched the forums/online but can't fine a solid answer on the best way to do this. The most common options I've come across are:

1) Swap substrate add zeolite/carbon and do 2x week large water changes until stabilized. Leave fish/shrimp in tank.

2) Soak AS in a separate tank/container for a few weeks until ammonia leaching calms down, then do the swap as normal like step above.

3) Rehouse fish/shrimp, swap substrate and basically recycle tank for a few weeks before adding livestock back

I'd like to avoid option 3 if I can. Would option 1 or 2 work for me in this situation?
 

bshenanagins

Junior Poster
Mar 3, 2017
211
112
43
I think #2 would be safest as #1 your taking a gamble on the effectiveness of your biological filtration. AS could quickly overwhelm the established bacteria even with water changes. I wouldn’t risk your livestock for a new substrate.