polarbear Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 For those of you that have experience moving tanks? The question I have is about the sand bed. I decided to sell my 120 gallon tank because of space issues amd am going to by a 90 gallon setup that i already running from a person in san antonio. The tank I'm getting is coming with a full sand bed, and live rock along with a lot of snails and hermits. The tank is currently running. Does it cause a cycle when you mess up the sand bed durning the move? Should I rinse the sand out or will that be worse for it? I don't want to cause a hair algea bloom. Also when I get it back to my house I'm going to have to get everything ready so I was going to but the live rock in a brute trash can with a power head in it until I get things done. How long will the sand be ok for as long as it is covered with water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I've never moved sand so take this with a grain of salt. I'd say, either rinse it clean or just start with new. You could keep a cup or two of the old to seed the new if you went that route. Melev has an article on rinsing sand on his site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgy Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I'm about to do the same thing next weekend. I was just going to leave the sand in there and drain as much water as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarbear Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 That's what I'm going to do but didn't know if it will still mess it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonJones Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I think it depends on how old the sand bed is and how it was maintained. If it is an old, established deep sand bed, I would keep a couple of cups of sand as suggested and use it to seed a new sand bed. Old sand beds can have lots of things trapped in them that when disturbed can cause problems, some serious some minor. If it is a shallow sand bed that is vacuumed with some frequency, I really wouldn't be too concerned and would just move it in the tank. Regardless, I would probably start with a new sand bed either way because I would want to know 100% how it had been maintained. Of course, I would still keep a couple of cups to seed the new sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsea Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I have moved deep sand beds several times. Are you getting much fish and coral in this move? The answer to your question depends on your goals. If you were maintaining this tank for a client, then you know the history. I can only assume that you would like to reestablish the tank as is without changing the tank theme. If this is your goal then reuse the bed and expect a nutriant spike with some algae bloom. No matter what you do, the system will be out of whack for a little time. I put more money in my sandbeds and pamper them for long term goals in my reef tanks. During this phase, babysit fish and corals for two weeks in another tank. IMHO. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Either rinse and reuse the sand or toss it. Disturbing the sand bed can release a lot of toxic stuff, and no matter how hard you try you are going to end up shifting it around during the move and uncovering stuff that hasn't touched water in a long time. No sense causing a cycle, algae bloom, etc., when you could just rinse and re-seed. As Patrick says the system will be a bit out of whack no matter what so why take the chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarbear Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 So if I start with a new sand bed and seed it with the old sand, how long will I have to wait before I add my fish and coral? Remember I'm getting live rock with the tank so it's already cured. I'll also be using a lot of the water that's already in the tank except for about a 30 gallon water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarbear Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Another question is, if I rinse the sand out and reuse, is the consider starting with new sand? I can afford all new sand right now and would like to reuse what's in the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 It will cycle a bit. It depends on how long it is not running during the move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Another question is, if I rinse the sand out and reuse, is the consider starting with new sand? I can afford all new sand right now and would like to reuse what's in the tank I'm a bit confused by some of the answers above it wasn't clear if we're talking rinsing in fresh or salt. I've moved sand beds and rinsed them out by scooping out he sand and dumping it in a bucket half full of saltwater from the aquarium and repeating, this flushes a lot of the muck out of the sand. If you find a pocket that's black from anaerobic bacteria I'd just toss it. You can rinse the sand out in fresh water and you'll get most of the muck out of it but you've killed off all your bacteria and are starting over from scratch with it so you would need to seed it with a bag on new live sand. Like the others said you'll probably have some degree of cycling, at least some algae to go through for a couple of months after moving. I don't see any ammonia after moving a tank but I usually have everything back in the tank in 3-4 hours. If with driving you have everything in buckets for 6-8 hours you're going to want to watch it real close for an ammonia spike that might cause a meltdown and have extra salt water ready if you need to do water changes. It would be a good idea to run a lot of carbon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Your fish/coral should be okay. What I've done when upgrading tanks and starting with new sand but old/cycled rock is to put the rock in there (with corals encrusted) and let it sit for a couple days to allow the bacteria time to recover/establish, then moved my fish. Using the old sand to seed the new will help but it will still take a couple weeks before the sand bed is adding to the denitrification of the tank and a couple months or so for it to be fully colonized. But as long as you keep an eye on your tank inhabitants and your params it should be fine. If you use a product such as Seachem Stability that will help even more. If you have to put everything back in right away it won't be the end of the world but as Derek says you will probably get a mini cycle so if you can avoid putting the critters in harm's way for a day or two, all the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Let me just say, do not move the tank with the sand in it. Anything over about 40 gallons needs to be completely emptied before moving. I'm not sure if that was an option, but it sounded like you are considering it in your initial post. This is almost a sure way to break a seam. It's almost impossibly to evenly lift and move the tank without twisting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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