Moving a 300 gal saltwater tank

[Yeee]

First time caller here. I'm in the process of buying my first saltwater aquarium after being in the freshwater world for a few years now. I have decided to buy a used 300 gallon tank because she said bigger was better. Today I was at the owner's home surveying the tank and forming a strategy for getting such a massive tank out and to my house a few miles away, and she said if I remove/disturb the sand from the tank I will kill all the copepods and completely "crash" the tank. Somehow I need to eliminate some weight from the tank so I can lift it with 8 other men and a small boy, and getting the sand out was part of my strategy. I was going to put the sand in containers with some of the saltwater, along with the corals and liverock.

So my question is, will I crash the tank if I disturb the substrate sand? I figure the sand is going to slosh around in the tank anyway while we're moving it, and it would actually be better if we encapsulated it in a more stable environment during the transfer.

Also if anyone has any tips on moving a massive tank, I'm jotting down notes.

 

[Naso110]

So you will probably get like 10 different answers about the sand bed and disturbing it. I recently moved my 180g to a new house. I've moved dozens of 75-110g over the 29+ years in the hobby. While I usually try to leave the sand intact, my 180g wasn't possible due to weight. So I carefully removed the top 1" or so of sand from the tank. But it in buckets and moved the tank. However the sand I removed, I washed really well, essentially like adding new sand to an existing sand bed. There was plenty of bacteria already in and on the rock and existing sand bed. I had no fish or coral die, only a slight cyano outbreak I contribute to exposing some or the anaerobic area that was below the 1" of sand I removed. Just my experience with a large tank move. Hope it helps. Good luck.

 

[Yeee]

So you will probably get like 10 different answers about the sand bed and disturbing it. I recently moved my 180g to a new house. I've moved dozens of 75-110g over the 29+ years in the hobby. While I usually try to leave the sand intact, my 180g wasn't possible due to weight. So I carefully removed the top 1" or so of sand from the tank. But it in buckets and moved the tank. However the sand I removed, I washed really well, essentially like adding new sand to an existing sand bed. There was plenty of bacteria already in and on the rock and existing sand bed. I had no fish or coral die, only a slight cyano outbreak I contribute to exposing some or the anaerobic area that was below the 1" of sand I removed. Just my experience with a large tank move. Hope it helps. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. Coming from the freshwater world, I religiously vaccum my tanks out, and I think unclean substrate is just invites disease. I don't know if it's normal to have such dirty substrate, but obviously they know more than I do about it. I don't like the idea of diseases being underneath the surface of the sand.

 

[fastest302]

I usually remove all the sand out and replace with new sand when I set it back up and use a cup of the old sand to seed it.. if you want to use the old sand I would recommend washing it

 

[piranhaman00]

The only correct answer is get new sand. Using the current sand is bad idea, using some to seed is good idea, but don’t use much

 

[frankieg2293]

The only correct answer is get new sand. Using the current sand is bad idea, using some to seed is good idea, but don’t use much

DO NOT USE THE SAME SAND! I did this and I am having nothing but trouble with nitrates and phosphates now I have to replace the sand anyway with the tank fully stocked with fish... also you will get rid of lots of worms by not using the same sand.

 

[ColoredRock]

So I did this on a much smaller system.. went bare bottom for a couple months.. I would have been ok with that but other in the house begged to differ. My biggest screw-up was ....was ...was .... was

I did not have enough water on hand when I got it back to my home.

What others have said.. ditch the sand to start and use new.

But keep it

Rinse in out with a hose till its clear..let it air dry.. and then you can re use it

 

[Dburr1014]

Couple of things, how deep is the sand bed were talking about? What kind of sand is it? If it's aragonite, I would keep it and reuse it. I would definitely wash it as the poster said above me. Washing it will get rid of any deatrice but it will keep a lot of the bacteria that's in it. The bacteria won't wash away in freshwater. Even if you buy a new sand you're going to have to rinse it clean with fresh water anyway so what's the difference?
If you're going to use the Rocks over you should have a mini cycle. It won't take long to cycle it. Make sure you put the Rocks down first then the sand. I say this because if you get something that tunnels under the rocks and the Rocks are on the sand they will collapse.
Good luck and I'm very jealous!