how to move a sand bed

[exoticaquatix]

well, the roommate fell through and now i have to move my 65gal reef. the rock, fish and coral will all be going into a 55 gal temporarily while i move the tank but im concerned about the sand bed. it has been established for about a year now and only infrequently siphoned. its not a DSB so im only worried about some areas of anaerobic activity but what about all the critters and detritus? do i just siphon as much gunk out of it as possible and scoop it out leaving the worms and such mixed in? or should i try to divide the top half and bottom half of the sand into different containers and layer them once i get the tank set back up? im not too worried i guess i just want this move to have as little of impact as possible. any one with experience please help me out.
-nick

[clavery]

We helped move a tank with a shallow sandbed. Just removed everything and most of the water from the tank, scooped the sand into a bucket with water to cover the sand, then carefully replaced the mixed sand into the tank after the water has been put back in and let the sand settle. Replaced all the rocks and corals and eventually fish, and all was well. Tank has been running well since March and no reported problems.

Good luck!

[Dubbin1]

I would just leave it in the tank during the move.

[Bdimas]

How deep is the sandbed? I had a friend who siphoned out his sandbed which i think was about 3". It seemed to release alot of toxins back into his tank and his corals browned out and he even lost some. I think he lost a couple fish also. IF the 55gal is going to be temporary you might want to go bare bottom, and clean your sand for when you have a permanent tank ready.

[exoticaquatix]

the 55 will be in the old Apt holding all my corals fish and some of the rock and no sand. other rock will be in a trash can. the 65 may be getting drilled and getting a new center brace but i think i might get overwhelmed with the rest of the move. there is about 80 lbs of sand in the tank if i am remembering correctly. thats about 80 more pounds than i was hoping to have to move with the tank, haha.
im going to say the sand bed is on average a 3/4'' above the trim which would make it around 2" at most. if i were to clean the top half of the sand with tank water and the bottom with tap water could i avoid a cycle and the toxic effect? im getting worried now! all my SPS are looking great and have started growing faster than ever. CRAP. maybe ill just go for it and move the whole thing sand and all. get as much water out as possible, sipon the top 1/2" maybe. its not far but its lots of stairs and doorways. 2 days till this happens. any more advice would be great.
-nick

[nathansinger]

As part of my aquarium service gig, I also move aquariums. I recommend using a big siphon tube - usually 1" - and siphon out the sand into buckets with a little of the tank water on top to keep it wet. Then when you add it back to the tank, fill about five gallons of saltwater on top of the sand and immediately siphon it out and discard it. The water will tend to run clear after that and you should be in good shape.

[exoticaquatix]

im worried about stirring up all that detritus and the possible anerobic areas. the sand really could use a good cleaning tho. i siphoned 10 of the last 15 gallons out of the tank and tried cleaning the top layer in the process. LOTS of detritus to say the least. dont i have to worry about what Bdimas said? ive never moved a reef and stirred up the sand so i dont want to gamble. i have alot of nice frags and small colonies in there and id be devistated to lose them, any of them.
if im going to stir up the sand im washing it ALL with tank water. no half and half as i considered before.
if anyone else has experience with this please chime in, im waiting as long as i can.
-nick

[cristhiam]

How about start the new tank with new sand and then use some of the live sand to seed it. If you transfer all the LR and some of the old sand you won't have a cycle, use as much as the water from the other tank too. I did this when I upgraded from my 55 to a 125 all happend in a couple of days and I didn't loose any corals or fish, and I had to make a lot of new salt water too. The sand bed from the 55 was nasty black when I removed it.

[cristhiam]

Here is the thread that helped me when I switch.
Good luck
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=1

[exoticaquatix]

thanks alot man, i was just staring at my 65 with just the sand left in it wondering what the heck i am going to do. i was thinking of just saving some and rinseing the rest out with tap water. its only been set up a year so i dont see why that would be a problem. we'll see, im starting to worry about the vat of live rock. its hard to circulate water in a 44 gallon brute can full of rocks.
-nick

[exoticaquatix]

well, i decided to go for it. i took out about 5-10 lbs of sand off the surface and just rinsed out the rest with tap water. it really wasnt that bad. now i basicly have new sand and some live sand. couldnt be easier. i should have just went for it in the beginning but a was worried about my corals and fish. guess its just wait and see now. thanks for all the help everyone.
-nick