dirty water, changing gravel

Question
Lee,
I have a 30 gallon tank, freshwater with 4 ciclids and an alage eatter. The nitrate level is 160, water hardness is 300, and ph is 8.4. I am wanting to fix the water and change the gravel to a different color. I have taken a third of the water out without results, I am going to take another third out tonight. Any other suggestions?
Also how do I change the gravel without starting from scratch or would that be better for the fish, I love my fish & do not want to harm them.
Thanks


Answer
Cichlids are so interesting.... on to answer your question. What I would do if I were in your shoes is place the cichlids in a cooler or something that would accomodate them and put an airstone in it while I changed out the gravel. I would also use current tank water in the cooler with the fish as they are used these water conditions. Once I changed out the gravel I would fill the tank about one third of the way and start removing water from the cooler into the fish tank until about one quarter of the water was left, I would then put the fish back in the tank, add some aquasafe to help reduce any stress and finish putting the water from the cooler back into the tank until it was half to three quarters full and then add new water to the tank. Don't change your filter at this time because your fish will benefit from the good bacteria still in there as you will find a lot of crap under your gravel which you may want to syphon out before adding the new gravel. Best of luck & happy fish keeping!!!