will moving a DSB kill livestock

mmm55645 · 09/07/2008, 09:56 PM

I read somewhere that disturbing a DSB will cause livestock to die.

I need to move my tank soon, and I am wondering if I should take any special precautions with moving the tank in regards to the DSB- if disturbing the DSB will somehow corrupt the water and kill everything.
I just have fish and snails/hermits.

Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you.

Jflip2002 · 09/07/2008, 10:02 PM

I dont think it will necessarily automatically kill everything. It sure will stress everything though, and has potential to kill items. When I moved my last tank, my sand bed was disturbed, and my poor puffer died. If I could do it over again, I would have set up a small (even 10g) tank with water to set him in until the permanent tank became settled.

Roy G. Biv · 09/08/2008, 06:32 AM

If you need to move it, get everything out first. Move it in a bucket and shoot a hose in there to stir it up, those clouds that come out are poisonous so keep rinsing.

atwinparadox2 · 09/08/2008, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pmolan
If you need to move it, get everything out first. Move it in a bucket and shoot a hose in there to stir it up, those clouds that come out are poisonous so keep rinsing.

agree, what the DSB does is tap all the toxins from your water volume. If you stir it up your releasing all those toxins back in into the water very fast. The livestock won't be able to acclimate to it as the levels will rise very fast and they will be very stressed and or die. Your best bet is to remove everything living before you remove the sand.

mmm55645 · 09/08/2008, 09:03 AM

I can put the livestock in a separate tank just for a day or two days until the tank is moved completely and the DSB has settled in its new location(hopefully that will be enough time for toxins to settle down into the DSB again).

Will this ensure that there are no fatalities?

Also, will the toxins that emerge from the disturbed DSB kill life on my rocks? I could get the rocks out quickly without letting them sit in the water.

CleveYank · 09/08/2008, 09:48 AM

WOW

DeepSandBed VOODOO!!!

I have moved entire tanks with SPS and tangs that get blackspot and ich if you even look at them funny without even 1 problem.

If your tank has great water quality? If you work fast but smart you will not have any problems.

And I would not do this move in "stages" either.

1 move everything out of the tank and keep fish with airstone on them with heater and controller if you have one to keep their temp dead on. If no controller just monitor the temp and adjust heater due to smaller container.

2 softies and liverock just go into containers with tank water and are not as temp sensitive. (at the moment you want to move them to the moving car/van etc you drain them out, carry them to the vehicle and refill and cover for the move. And yes you would need to syphon out the water when you get to destination to move them to area where tank is going and then put the water back in.

The biggie with the bed is to get in get it out of the tank and into buckets or totes that you can cover. You place the buckets or totes in your moving vehicle that will not get too cold or too hot. Get the livestock in place in the vehicle next and then get the tank in last so it's the 1st thing to come out.

Get to location, set tank and level it and get livestock on the side so you can monitor things while you work. Then put sand in ASAP and then place bucket in tank to refill and limit the sandstorm impact and start refilling and run magnum 350 or the like to "clear" the water as it goes in. (Keeping the filters inputs away from the sand of course.) Get your baserock in and your decorative polyp and softy covered stuff on it, add delicate corals and fish and get sump setup top off and you are done.

I have moved all of my tanks from one place to another with established sandbeds and not lost a thing. I've moved them across the room due to construction needs etc.

DSB is not as sensitve as folks think. If you let it dry, or get baked or frozen, or your tank was an overfed ill-maintained sewer to begin with...well then yes you can have crashes and recycles and livestock losses. But if it's sound you will not crash a tank or kill inhabitants from moving a sandbed.

09/07/2008, 09:56 PM	#1
mmm55645 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 193	will moving a DSB kill livestock I read somewhere that disturbing a DSB will cause livestock to die. I need to move my tank soon, and I am wondering if I should take any special precautions with moving the tank in regards to the DSB- if disturbing the DSB will somehow corrupt the water and kill everything. I just have fish and snails/hermits. Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you.

09/07/2008, 10:02 PM	#2
Jflip2002 Eagles & Tigers Fan Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 3,543	I dont think it will necessarily automatically kill everything. It sure will stress everything though, and has potential to kill items. When I moved my last tank, my sand bed was disturbed, and my poor puffer died. If I could do it over again, I would have set up a small (even 10g) tank with water to set him in until the permanent tank became settled. __________________ I hate cheap powerheads. Current Tank Info: 40g Breeder

09/08/2008, 09:48 AM	#6
CleveYank 20 Years and Over Join Date: Feb 2000 Posts: 3,052	WOW DeepSandBed VOODOO!!! I have moved entire tanks with SPS and tangs that get blackspot and ich if you even look at them funny without even 1 problem. If your tank has great water quality? If you work fast but smart you will not have any problems. And I would not do this move in "stages" either. 1 move everything out of the tank and keep fish with airstone on them with heater and controller if you have one to keep their temp dead on. If no controller just monitor the temp and adjust heater due to smaller container. 2 softies and liverock just go into containers with tank water and are not as temp sensitive. (at the moment you want to move them to the moving car/van etc you drain them out, carry them to the vehicle and refill and cover for the move. And yes you would need to syphon out the water when you get to destination to move them to area where tank is going and then put the water back in. The biggie with the bed is to get in get it out of the tank and into buckets or totes that you can cover. You place the buckets or totes in your moving vehicle that will not get too cold or too hot. Get the livestock in place in the vehicle next and then get the tank in last so it's the 1st thing to come out. Get to location, set tank and level it and get livestock on the side so you can monitor things while you work. Then put sand in ASAP and then place bucket in tank to refill and limit the sandstorm impact and start refilling and run magnum 350 or the like to "clear" the water as it goes in. (Keeping the filters inputs away from the sand of course.) Get your baserock in and your decorative polyp and softy covered stuff on it, add delicate corals and fish and get sump setup top off and you are done. I have moved all of my tanks from one place to another with established sandbeds and not lost a thing. I've moved them across the room due to construction needs etc. DSB is not as sensitve as folks think. If you let it dry, or get baked or frozen, or your tank was an overfed ill-maintained sewer to begin with...well then yes you can have crashes and recycles and livestock losses. But if it's sound you will not crash a tank or kill inhabitants from moving a sandbed. Last edited by CleveYank; 09/08/2008 at 09:57 AM.

09/08/2008, 06:32 AM	#3
Roy G. Biv Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: New Jersey Posts: 3,646	If you need to move it, get everything out first. Move it in a bucket and shoot a hose in there to stir it up, those clouds that come out are poisonous so keep rinsing.

09/08/2008, 09:03 AM	#5
mmm55645 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 193	I can put the livestock in a separate tank just for a day or two days until the tank is moved completely and the DSB has settled in its new location(hopefully that will be enough time for toxins to settle down into the DSB again). Will this ensure that there are no fatalities? Also, will the toxins that emerge from the disturbed DSB kill life on my rocks? I could get the rocks out quickly without letting them sit in the water.