Questions for my upcoming re-scape

[Unkillable Cat]

My wife is finally going back to work (she's a lecturer) on Tuesday so I get to finally do the re-scape that I have been planning.
I have a nice big 50 litre container I can move the fish into while I'm working. I can move the filter and heater there any syphon off the tank water in. The filter produces bubbles so I know there should be a reasonable level of o2, will this be good enough to keep them happy and healthy while I work? and can I leave them in there over night if the job spills over?

Im also planning on removing the sand substrate so that I can put some soil under it in preparation for future planting when I have the budget for it. Will this be a good idea or should I do any planting before I flood the tank? I want to avoid any soil blow-outs that could ruin the water quality.

How do I clean the wood that's in the tank? I know i can just bleach the rocks, but the mopani wood I have in there is starting to turn black so needs a thorough clean.

I have an armoured shrimp, can he be plopped in with the other fish while I work or will this stress him out? I have got a 15 litre tank on my window he can go in if this is a risk.

Last stupid question (for now) I have a pair of hillstream loaches that I will need to move. Since I plan to thoroughly clean the tank and furniture they may not have a food source for a couple of weeks, should I move them to the window tank? or is there a way to supplement their food in the interim?

 

[Kyle Lambert]

Im not sure if someone can back me up on this as ive only kept clown and kuhli loaches in the past but im pretty sure that you can give them a diet of spirulina algae wafers and they should be alright. I would not take this advice unless someone else can back me up on this as theyre not a species i have kept but both clowns and kuhlis ive had in the past loved the spirulina. They also enjoyed the home made food i used to make. spinach, haddock, red pepper, garlic, all boiled down together, blitzed, and then mixed with gelatine and sectioned into small cubes. keep them in the freezer. I must add with that recipe though that it is an old one and im not too sure how well gelatine is looked upon nowadays for fish food.

Basically this post is useless unless someone can confirm what i have written. I'm pretty confident though!

wish i could be more help.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

That's great help on its own, so thank you. I will look into recipes for the loaches, never thought to need to supplement the kuhli loaches as they usually chomp down quite merrily on any flakes that get left or lost in the hardscape.