Live sand or not in tank move

Shrimpboy · May 17, 2019

Hi

I am having a crack at a reef tank and am getting a second hand tank as a going concern so want to keep all the rock, livestock and corals but not the sand as its to fine. I have a couple of questions that would like to get some advice on.

1. Want to use fiji pink should I use live or not? Cost wise my LFS there isn't much difference I like the idea of not having to wash live but wondered if there are downsides to live in this situation? I will be using about 70% of the current tank water and all of the live rock. Should I keep a bit of the old sand to seed whatever choice I go for and if so should I just mix it in and is any part of the old sand better i.e top layer?

2.On move day should I have any bottles of anything about in case of any issue with ammonia etc if so what some have said use some think like Dr Tims One and only anyway but this says to leave skimmer is this s good idea to leave off? Any advice will be good as I have a lot of experience with freshwater shrimp but not reef?

Thanks in advance.

reacclimating 2 the hobby · May 17, 2019

IMO - I wouldn't take any of the old sand. You might see a mini cycle when you setup with new live sand. I don't typically take any old water when I move tanks, but you can to make it easier to match current parameters. It definitely wouldn't hurt to have a bottle of bio-spira or Dr Tims on hand. Having the skimmer off for a day shouldn't have a large effect on the tank. I'd just make sure to blow off your rocks prior to the move.

ChrisRD · May 17, 2019

On #1 I've moved several tanks and never taken the sand. IMO it's a good opportunity to leave all the organic matter in the old sand behind and start fresh. Whether you use dry or live I'm not sure it's going to make much difference as there should be a lot of nitrification of ammonia going on with the bacteria on the live rock already. Could vary depending on how much live rock and how much bioload...but in general, the rock already has all the bacteria you need.

On #2 I would leave the skimmer on to keep up with any extra organics released with the disruption of moving everything...and also for aeration. Supplementing with some bottled bacteria can't hurt...may or may not help depending on how bioload you're dealing with and how much rock you have.