To sand or not to sand

[strangepod]

About to transfer everything in my stable tank into a bigger tank (90 to 125). I need to know the following:

Should I save the water or make new mix?
Should I save the sand or start fresh?

I have alot of live rock and not going to touch my sump.

Thanks
John

 

[mvm]

DO NOT transfer the sand. Easiest way to nuke a tank. I would start with fresh sand and add a cup or two of the established sand.

 

[KrisDeitz]

MvM Why would it nuke it? Im lost here. Hate to thread jack.
I am about to do the same thing he is

 

[mvm]

Sand houses a ton of waste/nitrates ect. When undisturbed, it's OK. When mixed up and added to water, it releases the nitrates/nutrients. JMO..

 

[reeferj]

I just did a tank transfer about six months ago. All new sand with about 2-3 cups of the old mixed in like MvM said, and about 80% of old water mixed with new. I filled my new tank with the new sand, about 25 gallons of new water and dosed with bacteria for a week, every couple of days adding a cup of old sand. I ran a powerhead and heater, and when the temp and ph matched with the old tank I started the transfer. Pulled about half of the old water and added to the new tank, put the remaining water and livestock in plastic bins. Transferd over my liverock without corals first, then corals and fish. Added the water from the bins, then topped off the new tank with new water, but only a couple gallons at a time. About 8-9 hrs all together. Had a little bleaching, STN, but 95% of my corals made it along with all the fish.

 

[CoralShop]

if the sand is rinsed it may be safe. Not speaking from experience just what i've been told

 

[mvm]

Might as well add rinsed new sand....
If you're going to rinse the "old" sand, if you don't used saltwater, you'll have even more die off.

 

[pamelahaley]

Don't think it's impossible to rinse old sand. I moved a tank with old sand that got disturbed, mixed it up with an extra bit of water, dumped the water, added more, mixed it up and dumped most of the junk then reused. I just swished and dumped with SW until it wasn't so murky and let it all settle in after filling the tank. I try to save as much water as possible, esp when upgrading. Just don't save what you used to clean the sand ::blech::

 

[mvm]

Not impossible, but not worth it. In this case, I doubt the 10 gallons of reserved water would be enough to rinse the sand thoroughly. There's really little to no benefit to using old sand. Ask Rit when he moved his large tank. He lost almost everything when trying to use old sand.

 

[brianjfinn]

Do you guys know how old the 90 is? If it's only six months old, or if he religiously vacuumed the sand bed, then it wouldn't be an issue.

Strangpod, how old is the tank you're upgrading from? Also, how many pounds of sand do you have in there?

I think what you'll find from most people is that if the sand is more than a couple of years old, if it's more than an inch or two, and if you haven't kept it vacuumed, you don't want to use it. Rinsing is a possibility, but it's far better to start off with new sand and seed the new sand with a small amount of the old. If you have kept the sand clean, and it isn't more than an inch deep, you'll be fine to use it.

Case in point, when I first entered the hobby, I was told by a LFS to NEVER disturb the sand bed. Don't vacuum it, don't touch it. Well now, six or more years later, I have a 3 or 4 inch sand bed that is a ticking time bomb. Needless to say, I won't be using any of it in the new set up once I upgrade. If I had kept it vacuumed over the years, I'd probably have a different story.

 

[strangepod]

Thanks for everyone's response.

The tank has been set up for 4 years, however the sand bed is about 2.5 years old and has never been vacuumed. I do 10% water changes every two weeks and run carbon 24/7.

My thought is to get new sand, save about 70-80% of the water and run a heavy dose of carbon at first ( or change it out often). Since the tank is going in the place of the 90 I can't set it up before hand so it is going to be a workout for a few hours. If anyone lives in the Buford / Dacula ( I am near Hamilton Mill Road and 124) are and wants to help with the transfer let me know. It is going to be a few weeks from now, will let people know a more firm date later.

John

 

[brianjfinn]

strangpod;578462 wrote: Thanks for everyone's response.

The tank has been set up for 4 years, however the sand bed is about 2.5 years old and has never been vacuumed. I do 10% water changes every two weeks and run carbon 24/7.

My thought is to get new sand, save about 70-80% of the water and run a heavy dose of carbon at first ( or change it out often). Since the tank is going in the place of the 90 I can't set it up before hand so it is going to be a workout for a few hours. If anyone lives in the Buford / Dacula ( I am near Hamilton Mill Road and 124) are and wants to help with the transfer let me know. It is going to be a few weeks from now, will let people know a more firm date later.

John

Definitely save as much of the old water as possible. I bet you'd be safe seeding new sand with a cup or two of your old sand, which would just help add bacteria and other critters.

There are a few of us out your way that ought to be able to help. I'm actually about 10 minutes from Hamilton Mill and 124, so just let me know.

 

[jef4y]

Save all the old water you can. As for the sand, it's your choice on whether to rinse the life out of it or buy new sand which will require rinsing, but less of it.

Personally I don't reuse sand.. And the last 80# of sand I gave away, a guy rinsed and used in his 120 which (we believe) promptly nuked 90% of his tank. He lost thousands in livestock on a "freebie". What a shame...

Once you get the tank drained and start getting into the sand you'll see what we're talking about. It's absolutely nasty.

 

[nanonano]

Great, informative thread. Tagging along. I've never done a tank transfer but I've considered switching my 20 high to a shallower tank.

I can't imagine all the crap that is in the sand bed after 9 months.

 

[brianjfinn]

NanoNano;578493 wrote: Great, informative thread. Tagging along. I've never done a tank transfer but I've considered switching my 20 high to a shallower tank.

I can't imagine all the crap that is in the sand bed after 9 months.

I don't think 9 months is really that bad. Again, it all comes down to how old the tank is and what your husbandry techniques are. There are some really old sand beds I've seen that are immaculate because the owner kept them shallow and vacuumed. I would have no second thoughts about reusing that sand in a new tank. Mine, on the other hand, is a brick. Full of nastiness. Any time I stir even a small amount up, I do a water change, just to be safe.

 

[nanonano]

Well mine is pretty shallow and relatively clean. Maybe it would be alright. Wouldn't want to chance a nuke though.

I don't see the point in chancing it.