[saltjunkie]

Need ideas, thoughts...

I am moving this week and plan on taking down my tank, and upgrading to RR tank(drilled)
i have over a 4" sand bed that hasnt been touched in 2 years...
i plan on digging up the sand bed and trying to recycle it in a rubbermaid tub in the garage.. while keeping my corals fish and other live stock along with live rock in another rubbermaid....am i just spinning my wheels? will my cukes live without the sand bed? for a week or 2? i know i will lose alot... i just want a drilled 65 or bigger tank..... any suggestions?


Oh, and Hi everybody.. i havent been on here in a long time kinda missing it.. will be back aroud more often now i believe......

[Reefland]

Hey Rick!

Once you starting removing the sandbed, it's going to get pretty messy and will probably so a lot of harm to it. Consider this; right now you have a DSB with varied levels of light and oxygen that penetrate, which is conductive of the different conditions that make DSB's work. When you start removing the sand, aerobic areas could turn into anaerobic and vice-versa, causing big problems.

If it were me, I would acquire new dry sand; take 15-20lbs of your existing sandbed and start fresh.

[Sueet]

I've read ALOT of bad things about moving an existing DSB... From all accounts, they say it is only safe to re-use the top 1"-1 1/2", and discard the rest.

Good luck to you.

[spmnarciso]

I plan on acquiring a new tank soon also. However, I will be using my existing tank as my refugium and trying not to disturb the sand bed in the process. Will that work? i plan on moving everything into sperate containers and leaving some water with the sand left in the display. After my new tank has cycled I will plumb in the old tank and start populating the new one with fish, corals and old LR.

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by spmnarciso

I plan on acquiring a new tank soon also. However, I will be using my existing tank as my refugium and trying not to disturb the sand bed in the process. Will that work? i plan on moving everything into sperate containers and leaving some water with the sand left in the display. After my new tank has cycled I will plumb in the old tank and start populating the new one with fish, corals and old LR.

Sure, IF you can pull it off... make sure you remove the fish before you remove the lowest rocks in your aquascape, cuz moving the rocks will stir up some nasty things from the sandbed underneath them... Also, how big is this tank? And how deep is the sand bed? Is the tank glass? It is dangerous to try to move a large tank with a full load in it, and sand, especially a DSB is heavy... and water on top of that? It would be a miracle to move a tank of any decent size without cracking it or maybe decimating the seals ... if the tank is very small (I'd say 29gal or smaller) you could probably do it if you have two very strong people with steady hands to move it.

[saltjunkie]

Originally Posted by Sueet

Sure, IF you can pull it off... make sure you remove the fish before you remove the lowest rocks in your aquascape, cuz moving the rocks will stir up some nasty things from the sandbed underneath them... Also, how big is this tank? And how deep is the sand bed? Is the tank glass? It is dangerous to try to move a large tank with a full load in it, and sand, especially a DSB is heavy... and water on top of that? It would be a miracle to move a tank of any decent size without cracking it or maybe decimating the seals ... if the tank is very small (I'd say 29gal or smaller) you could probably do it if you have two very strong people with steady hands to move it.

i have actually moved my 50 gallon twice with 200 pounds of sand and water on it.. once from louisville to tampa, then tampa to lakeland.......seemed ok....

yeah i know i will do a lot of harm to the sand bed... but i had planned on trying to cycle it, way thinned out in a rubber made container??you dont think this would work???
I wasnt going to rush it... i had planned on 2 or 3 weeks with a water change and good water flow... and tha sand by itself.. then maybe a few pieces of good live rock or 2???
What do you think? if its not a good idea. i will scrap the thought.. but i wanted the DSB.. cant really afford 200 pounds of sand at this point, and i do not believe south down is any where near me.........to buy anyhow.

[spmnarciso]

Its a 150g all glass tank with about 4" DSB. Never really thought of the weight. It was a pain to get on the stand so maybe it would be a bad idea. So how do you suggest I move? What do I do with the fish? What about the corals? Will they last in a tank full of just rock till I cycle the new one? So I guess the mature LS that I have now will just be a waste?

[Sueet]

Those are all difficult questions, do you have a smaller tank you used as a QT or something? I would say if you can, get the fish into something smaller until the new tank is settled, it doesn't have to have major filtration, just a small ph or something for circulation since it is temporary

Save as much water as you can (5gallon buckets aren't 'too' heavy) and re-use it, that will significantly reduce or nearly negate the cycling time. Oh, and if at all possible, transport the rock in water too... depending on how much you have, you could just put it in totes with water, or maybe put a little in each 5gal with the system water... any way you can achieve it would work... The more water, the better chance that die-off will be limited at worst.
If you put in new sand as a base, the top 1-1 1/2 inch of your live sand, your live rock, and as much old system water as you have (assuming you can manage to save at least 50%-65%, your cycle time should be virtually nil.
It would be just like doing a really large water change.. just sans fish just in case)... Just make sure you age any new sw mix you're going to add so that you don't shock the life on the rock/sand and cause an ammonia spike.
You should be able to add the fish back to the system in as little as a day or two, and the corals can go back in as soon as the water is clear.

About moving the tank itself... empty would be easiest.

[Sueet]

Well, as I said... IF you can get away with moving it intact, go for it. If you have to disturb more than the top 1" of it, you would be better off removing it completely, aggressively scrubbing it and starting over..... Well, still saving that top 1-1 1/2", since that is where the bulk of the beneficial aerobic bacteria will be..... the anaerobic stuff along with all the dangerous elements that come with it is down further which is why you don't want to disturb.
If you remove it from the tank, you could put a small amount at a time in a large flat-ish container to scrub it, rinse it, and then I would also recommend heat/sun drying it to be sure it's clean and dead.
Be aware that this will be difficult... and you might just decide it's not worth it once you see the nasties that will come up out of that bed when you start digging it up.

[spmnarciso]

If I do reuse it as my fug. without disturbing too much what's the worst that can happen? Will I get a big cycle or will I actually release bad stuff into the water column?

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by spmnarciso

If I do reuse it as my fug. without disturbing too much what's the worst that can happen? Will I get a big cycle or will I actually release bad stuff into the water column?

Bad stuff, but if you don't disturb it enough to see the icky's, you should be ok.

[spmnarciso]

thanks

[saltjunkie]

well, i got moved,,,, did as io always have..... put all the watter in rubbermaids.... 1 for fish, 1 for corals, 1 for live rock, 1 extra for just water.....

moved the tank with all the sand in it... along with a 1/4" of water over the 4" of sand...........


my fuge was 2 rubberaids, an 18 gallon with all water my return pump and skimmer... a 10g fuge....
well, i coulkdnt find a new tank to buy.. so i bought a sump/fuge combo to replace the rubbermaid mess....took 2 days to clear, and even though i completely removed and disturbed my fuge... nothing noticable died.......

[Sueet]

Originally Posted by saltjunkie

well, i got moved,,,, did as io always have..... put all the watter in rubbermaids.... 1 for fish, 1 for corals, 1 for live rock, 1 extra for just water.....

moved the tank with all the sand in it... along with a 1/4" of water over the 4" of sand...........


my fuge was 2 rubberaids, an 18 gallon with all water my return pump and skimmer... a 10g fuge....
well, i coulkdnt find a new tank to buy.. so i bought a sump/fuge combo to replace the rubbermaid mess....took 2 days to clear, and even though i completely removed and disturbed my fuge... nothing noticable died.......

Awesome!