Need help moving. Again...

[LinkinReef]

So basically I just moved where I currently am just 3 months ago with my 210g. Now my "new" landord just told me last night that he is going to be selling the house and he will need this unit emptied by the end of next month which really SUCKS. I already have another apartment in mind and can move in right away.

When I set up this 210 from a 120g, I used all the water from the old one, all the LR and new sand just fed with live sand from the old one.
Can I use the new sand again without rinsing it or these past 3 months have been enough to have something trapped in the sand that would make me having to rinse it completely?

I'm trying to avoid the rinsing since I won't have any room to rinse a large amount of sand other than the bathtub...

I'm going to buy 2 - 55g barrels to make all the water as back up, but I will be using all the water the tank currently has and try to do this all in one day if possible.

Any advice on what else I can do to make this move as smooth as possible?

[DownwardDawg]

I just moved a 29 gal bowfront. The sandbed is 4" deep and has been untouched for 3 years. When I removed the rock, the sand got all stirred up and the water looked like crap, what little bit was left. I even moved some of the sand around and siphoned some of the "silty" looking areas. I didn't empty the sand out because my wife and I could lift it with the sand in it. I re-used most of the water and added a little new water. Everything looks great today. No casualties. It took my 2 feather dusters a week or so to start coming back out but they made it. I had a bad smell coming from the tank but I kept doing water changes and ran carbon and now it's almost back to normal. Good luck!

[MJT82]

Is there any way that you could move the tank with the sand still in it? That's the way that I've always moved tanks. I take the water down as low as it can go while still keeping the sand moist. If you can do that, and not have to disturb the sand bed, it will make for a much smoother transition. I just run carbon like mad after a move to ensure anything released or stirred up during the transition is neutralized as best as possible. Also, when I'm draining the tank, I'll siphon off any detritus that accumulates on the sand bed and just throw that water away. I know that's a big tank in itself, so leaving a sand bed in the tank will make it that much heavier, but if you have a few strong friends willing to give you a hand, that's what I would suggest.