MOVING

[Elmer]

This has probably already been asked a million times but I'm moving to a new house and have a 120 gallon tank tips for moving it? Like do I need new sand how much water should I try and save any good moving tips will be awesome.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Half the water all the sand and rock

 

[jsker]

Most toss the sand, and start new. Save the water, and rock. FYI you will still have a mini cycle. Run carbon for any possible ammonia spike from any die off.

 

[N4sty T4te]

Most toss the sand, and start new. Save the water, and rock. FYI you will still have a mini cycle. Run carbon for any possible ammonia spike from any die off.

Just curious, wouldn't the complete removal of the sand bed apply really just for unstirred sandbeds?

Like Mine for example is shallow and gets completely siphoned every 2 weeks, so hypothetically if that's the case I'd think you could keep it and rinse it in the 50% water that you discard so it ends up fairly clean without to much bacteria die off and reuse it as is.

 

[jsker]

Just curious, wouldn't the complete removal of the sand bed apply really just for unstirred sandbeds?

Like Mine for example is shallow and gets completely siphoned every 2 weeks, so hypothetically if that's the case I'd think you could keep it and rinse it in the 50% water that you discard so it ends up fairly clean without to much bacteria die off and reuse it as is.

I have always tossed the substrate. When the substrate is moved from tank to tank all kinds of good and bad get stirred up. I have read different opinions, and also read about more problems than good using the sand from a current tank. I like to play it safe

 

[nemo1017]

For me: I toss all the sand but only keep a scoop to reseed the new sand I buy. I also use a Bottle of bacteria and a polytilter. I keep as much of the water as I can. Did it this way last time, doing it again next month. As stated, Everybody will have different opinions though.

 

[Elmer]

This is the tank it's probably has a 3 inch sand bed

 

[Scubado63]

I am moving my tank this weekend, when I remove the rock, can I scrub it down to remove detritus and any algae, also I have Tupperware containers for fish, do they need a circulation or is a air stone ok to use, moving to another part of house, not out ......

 

[Coronus]

Do not reuse the sand. Built up no3 and detritus will cause a huge spike unless it was a thin sand bed and regularly stirred. Spend the money on new sand. Its worth it.

 

[Scubado63]

I am getting all new sand, just want to clean off rocks some, not sure what all I can do without causing issues ..... have a really bad red slime I cant seem to get rid of.... don't want to move it to new area

 

[Coronus]

You can rinse off all the rock in some of the old salt water while your breaking it down. Look to redo the aquascape as best you can to really open up the tank to leave no dead spots for flow. Write down any mistakes you made with the old way it was set up and dont do them this time.
I have moved a few tanks.
Save as much water as possible. Try for 75 to 80%. Keep the rocks in water 100% of the time if possible to cut down on bacteria loss.

 

[Scubado63]

my issue has always been the sand, it was so fine, look at it and it blows around, once I change sand I can up the flow and direction .... what about the fish, do they need flow or will air stone work in each container

 

[Coronus]

They should be fine with aerators. How far away is the move? Use powerheads for the fish untill you have to use aerators.
Yes fine sand is always a pain. Special grade sea floor sand is what I use. Meduim grain. I run 125x per hr in my sps set up. Never too much flow for sps tank

 

[Scubado63]

Just moving to another room, making room for a 200 gallon I have been working on .... I have never had to move a tank, very nervous about it, everything I have has been around since the start .... I have individual bins for each of the fish, don't have power heads for all... just thought I could use air stones ... I have a large yellow belly hippo , might get a bigger container for him and add flow, rest are fairly small compared

 

[Coronus]

Oh, the next room! Piece of cake. Probably dont need new sand if you can manage to keep it undisturbed and not move the base rock. If its a quick reset back up it should be ok.
I would get a bin and put tank water in it and just put the fish in it all together.

 

[Scubado63]

definitely getting new sand, old stuff is a nightmare with blowing up anytime something gets close to it.... and it has covered my rock, killing off a lot of the coralline ... need to try and get it all off the rock before I set it back up.

 

[tcampbell23]

New sand! Old sand isn't worth the hassle in my opinion. Moving the tank is already going to be an all day nightmare, no need to add to it by having to either thoroughly clean the old sand or risk killing everything with a nutrient spike

 

[Elmer]

I got everything moved

Made a mountain do you think this will harm anything it's far enough from the edges the crabs won't jump out [emoji12]

 

[mckinleyw]

Thats neat idk about rock out of water hiw much will be exposed when completely running? How hollow is the mountain? Mire caves the better imo.

 

[Elmer]

not much stick out of the water completely filled

And this is the mountain or as the kids call it volcano