sand question on tank upgrade..

[Zoanthkid]

ok guys, this may sound stupid but help me out here... im upgrading from a 12g elclipse acrylic bowfront to a 20g tall w/ sump hopefully tomorrow if all goes right.. well my question is this.. im thinking of taking about 1/2 of the sand from my current tank and using it the fuge section of the sump and using the other half as filler underneath the new black sand i have towards the back and under the rocks, having it buried but so u cant see it from the front or sides.. im not too worried about some of it working its way up as snails n things stir up the sand over time as the new black sand does have some speckles of white already.. im wondering if i use seachem stability will i be ok to just switch things over without too much problems? im using the hawaiian black arag-alive and i had good success with the regular white arag-alive when i started my tank and added things pretty much right away with cycled rock and water from the lfs... should i be ok or should i just use all new? i dont have enough room to run both tanks through a full cycle so am trying to use my rock, water, and sand from current setup to try to keep everything stable and healthy through the upgrade.

 

[Troylee]

Use the old rock and water... And use all new sand.. Stirring up old sand releases all sorts of toxins and will prolly give you all sorts of problems.. Depending on depth and age etc..

 

[Steelerfan747]

I would just go with all new sand and maybe just use a cup full of the old one to seed the new one but I would not use all the old sand as you will stir up a crap load of poop that has settled to the bottom. Just go with all new sand and you will be safer.

 

[_Alex_]

I would just go with all new sand and maybe just use a cup full of the old one to seed the new one but I would not use all the old sand as you will stir up a crap load of poop that has settled to the bottom. Just go with all new sand and you will be safer.

+1. Just use a cup full with it to help seed the good Bactria into the new sand. Unless the old sand is only a few months old your risking a lot with the waste that builds up in sand. Even with a ton of sand sifters they don't get everything and make waste themselves. Then the low oxygen bacteria in the bottom of the sand will be stirred up and most likely die off as well causing more nutrient dump into the system. It's just not Worth it. Plus one 40lb bag of sand be more than enough for a tank that size.