Moving tank, what to do with sand?

[dmolavi]

I will be moving in a few weeks, and while I have a plan to move my fish, corals, etc....what about the sandbed? Should I remove/rinse in RODI the existing sand, or get new sand, and if new, should I rinse first?

 

[Murica]

I think you should save some of the sand, which is used to the chemistry of your tank, then buy new for the rest. Some people rinse new sand but not everyone, personally i never have.

Oooooor you could take this opportunity to go bare bottom.

 

[Arricefe]

Rinse the sand, do you plan on adding new water during the move? If so use your “old” water.

 

[dmolavi]

I'm going to use as much "old" water as possible (what's needed to transport the rock, fish, etc). WRT bare-bottom...I'd like to..buuuuut...what about my pistol shrimp?

 

[dmolavi]

Rinse the sand, do you plan on adding new water during the move? If so use your “old” water.

Rinse new or old sand with the old water?

 

[Arricefe]

Rinse new or old sand with the old water?

Rinse both

 

[lilgrounchuck]

Toss it and get new sand. I just moved two weeks ago and did the same thing. I brought zero sand with me, dropped everything right into the tank at the new place and nothing skipped a beat. I did dump a bottle of Biospira in there for good measure though. It’s a mixed reef plus a nem.

 

[homer1475]

How old is the old sand? That will determine if you should rinse it, or replace it.

 

[dmolavi]

How old is the old sand? That will determine if you should rinse it, or replace it.

original to the tank, so 6-ish years old.

 

[homer1475]

I would replace it, or at the very least rinse the nasty out of it.

Helped move a friends 4 year old tank. All we did was put all the sand in a bucket, and rinse the carp out of it with a hose outside. You wouldn't believe what came out of that nasty sand.

 

[MERKEY]

Rinse new or old sand with the old water?

@brandon429 has threads about this that track many tank moves.

Rinse the sand completely and you will be fine moving all the rest as is.

There are hundreds of others in Brandon's threads that do this

 

[Amado]

I moved in September and I replaced the sand with new live sand from caribsea it made the move easier.

 

[homer1475]

Bacteria live mostly on your rocks, not the sand. As long as the bioload doesn't change, and you keep the rocks wet, you'll be fine.

Live sand is one of the biggest gimmicks in the hobby, and people buy into it lock, stock, and barrel.

 

[Amado]

Bacteria live mostly on your rocks, not the sand. As long as the bioload doesn't change, and you keep the rocks wet, you'll be fine.

Live sand is one of the biggest gimmicks in the hobby, and people buy into it lock, stock, and barrel.

Bacteria lives everywhere sand and rocks/glass. Live sand is not a gimmic it has live bacteria that will help him setup the tank and not have the tank cycle. I also believe in bio-diversity so getting bacteria from different sources is a good thing. I also buy my sand from amazon so it cost me the same are regular sand and it’s delivered to my front door so it’s a no brainer for me.

Carib Sea Ocean Direct Substrates

 

[Softhammer]

I’d rinse the sand very well. If the move is more than a few hours dry it out and reuse. I have done 4 cross country moves, 2 were multi day. You can definitely reuse the sand but if you keep it in a bucket without water flow it quickly turns anoxic and hydrogen sulphide builds up rapidly. Not only is it toxic if not very thoroughly re rinsed but it will stink to high hell!

 

[ihavecrabs]

I would not replace it, but rinse it for sure. Sand doesn't go bad (what gets stuck in there does)..

Keep some live sand from your tank with your fish and coral during transportation. This will keep the bacteria and fauna needed for the new tank. Maybe a cup or small rubbermaid container

The rest, I would rinse with regular tap water. 5 gallon bucket, hose at the bottom, and stir with your hands. It will kick up everything that has settled in the sand over time. Once the water runs clear, use it in the new tank. You can rinse with RODI if you are concerned.

 

[homer1475]

Bacteria lives everywhere sand and rocks/glass. Live sand is not a gimmic it has live bacteria that will help him setup the tank and not have the tank cycle. I also believe in bio-diversity so getting bacteria from different sources is a good thing. I also buy my sand from amazon so it cost me the same are regular sand and it’s delivered to my front door so it’s a no brainer for me.

Carib Sea Ocean Direct Substrates

You can think what you want, but it's a gimmick, and you have bought into it lock, stock, and barrel as most in the hobby have.

How long ago was that bagged up? How long has it sat on a shelf waiting to be bought? How long did it sit in a warehouse waiting to be shipped to the LFS(or amazon in your case) to be sold? Think if it was shipped on a UPS truck to your LFS in the winter it didn't freeze, or get super high heat in the summer? After all that, how much bacteria do you think is still alive?

Still think it's not a gimmick?

I digress though, and this thread is not the place to discuss this.

 

[lilgrounchuck]

I’d rinse the sand very well. If the move is more than a few hours dry it out and reuse. I have done 4 cross country moves, 2 were multi day. You can definitely reuse the sand but if you keep it in a bucket without water flow it quickly turns anoxic and hydrogen sulphide builds up rapidly. Not only is it toxic if not very thoroughly re rinsed but it will stink to high hell!

How did you get through multi-day moves with a reef tank? I’ve got another one coming up next year some time and I’m contemplating selling all my livestock and starting over, but I’ve got some things I’d really like to hold on to.

 

[dmolavi]

Thankfully, this is a local move (15 miles). If rinsing the existing sand til clean is sufficient, I will do that. I know my most challenging part of the move will be to catch my fish

I have a rock flower nem that lives on the sandbed that i'll have to jostle loose (shouldn't be hard)...but for my BTAs that live on the rockwork - should I remove them before putting the rocks in buckets (submerged), or let them ride it out on the rock?

 

[homer1475]

Let them ride it out, just keep them submerged in this case. You'll probably do more harm then good trying to remove them from the rocks.