Another Sand Bed Transfer Question

[Bear22]

Guys,

I am in the midst of upgrading from one nano tank to another size-wise.

My biggest conundrum/brainstorm is the sand bed question. Currently, I have a shallow sand bed (1-1.5 inches in depth) that's agitated on a daily basis with a turkey baster as part of daily maintenance. Also, the current nano tank is young (about 4 months into it).

I am basically doubling the footprint of the sand bed with this tank upgrade.

I'd really like to preserve/transfer as much as the old sand bed as possible. Not so much for the bacteria biome, but rather the copepod population that currently exists.

Currently, I have a 10 gallon container that contains new sand + new dry rock that I've seeded with water from the current nano tank. So, ideally this new nano would be a 50/50 mix old sand with new.

Thoughts/Suggestions?

Cheers

 

[Kooma]

Not worth the risk. Rinse it well and add both sands at the same time. The pods will come back.

 

[SaltyBear]

You could transfer the old sand in first then start adding the new sand.

I did the transfer with no problem.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Personally I think of the sandbed as like a dirty diaper, its not something I bring over to a new tank. I do take a scoop of sand though to help seed new sand.

 

[landlubber]

Just dump it. You'll be kicking yourself trying to save some quickly replaced bugs when an ammonia or nitrite spike kills your new tank.