Relocating tank - new sand or keep old?

[Tuffloud1]

So I’m going to move my in wall 90 gallon out of the wall and onto a seperate stand 8 feet away.

I have 80 pounds of fine sand since the tank was new. Currently 5 years old.
I have 4-5 Nassarius Snails that are also 5 years old, a large amphipod population as well as tons of spaghetti worms. Who knows what else is living in it.

1) should I buy new sand and discard the old?

2) if yes, should I get live or dead sand?

3) what kind of sand do you recommend?

 

[Gareth elliott]

You can rinse your sand, 5 years good chance there is enough locked in it i wouldnt use as is but i wouldnt chuck it.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-official-sand-rinse-thread-aka-one-against-many.230281/

 

[Mical]

1 cup of old to seed tank the rest new keep risk of spikes low. If you're going to use old sand plan on long time rinsing and hope you don't have a spike in ammonia & nitrates

 

[Tuffloud1]

1 cup of old to seed tank the rest new keep risk of spikes low. If you're going to use old sand plan on long time rinsing and hope you don't have a spike in ammonia & nitrates

Why do I need a cup of sand to seed when I am also transferring all my 5 year old live rock as well?

 

[KrisReef]

Here is the best sand thread imo;

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

short version: rinse all the sand in fresh water (remove the snails and other cuc first, or lose them) & put clean sand in the tank. Your rock and sand will be beautiful in the new tank. GL

Edit: Nice, I read right past Gareth elliot, same link. twice :)

 

[Tuffloud1]

Here is the best sand thread imo;

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445

short version: rinse all the sand in fresh water (remove the snails and other cuc first, or lose them) & put clean sand in the tank. Your rock and sand will be beautiful in the new tank. GL

Edit: Nice, I read right past Gareth elliot, same link. twice :)

What about siphon cleaning the sand BEFORE I drain and move the tank? Would this be sufficient? Seems like it would be easier.

Also, do I just use tap water to rinse if I went the rinse route?

 

[Tuffloud1]

Also would like to know if I purchase all new sand - should I get dry or live sand?

Will the all new sand be safe since I’m just moving all the old live rock, Corals and fish right in?

 

[Mical]

Like I said a cup of your old sand + your live rock and ALL new sand - you can thank me later

 

[KrisReef]

If you like the sand you have then it doesn't seem right to take the time to vacuum it out just to toss it and buy new (which you should rinse anyway according to the posted link.) The purpose of rinsing sand is to remove dirt and the fines that can cloud the tank when the sand is disturbed. If you bucket wash the sand so that it rinses clean when you add it back into the tank you will not get huge clouds in the tank that irritate the animals. Any "live" or "dead" sand you would purchase should be washed before it goes in the tank to remove fines and dirt the same way. I know this sounds crazy to wash new live sand, but it is recommended. Your old sand is live sand with lots of dirt. Rinse off the dirt and save your money for a coral or something else for the tank you really need, imo.

 

[cracker]

As Krisreef says , I use the garden hose on any sand new or used .Consider keeping a quantity (a lot more than a cup) of unwashed sand to seed the new bed. This is a perfect opportunity for a restart. imo a 5 year old sand bed is pretty loaded up by now.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Like I said a cup of your old sand + your live rock and ALL new sand - you can thank me later

If you like the sand you have then it doesn't seem right to take the time to vacuum it out just to toss it and buy new (which you should rinse anyway according to the posted link.) The purpose of rinsing sand is to remove dirt and the fines that can cloud the tank when the sand is disturbed. If you bucket wash the sand so that it rinses clean when you add it back into the tank you will not get huge clouds in the tank that irritate the animals. Any "live" or "dead" sand you would purchase should be washed before it goes in the tank to remove fines and dirt the same way. I know this sounds crazy to wash new live sand, but it is recommended. Your old sand is live sand with lots of dirt. Rinse off the dirt and save your money for a coral or something else for the tank you really need, imo.

I meant if I vacuum clean the sand before draining and moving and then reuse it - would this be sufficient compared to rinsing the sand outside the tank.

Like I said a cup of your old sand + your live rock and ALL new sand - you can thank me later

I hear you, just curious why I need to seed the tank with old sand when I already have live rock.

Also, when you say new sand, would you recommend live or dry sand?

 

[KrisReef]

I'm against throwing away good sand, so I wash it in the driveway. I just dump a pile there and hose it until its clean. (drives my neighbor nuts, probably, but I kind of like a little coral sand on the edge of my drive.)

Some folks don't want to rinse old nasty tank sand. They would toss the old and buy new. If they understand the linked thread they will rinse the new to remove the fines. Rinsing new sand might be faster, cleaner, and maybe easier than washing the old but that really depends on how clean the new is? I don't know the answer to that last question, or which kind of person you are with regards to washing sand. Both are good, do as you like! HTH.

 

[BadPanda]

Sorry to jump in but, I'm about to be on the same boat end of this week. Upgrading from Nuvo20 to Nuvo40. I ordered an extra 10 lbs on top of the 20 lbs I have on the 20. My plan, put a new filter sock at the end of my siphon while transfering water in my holding bin. Pour new water to old tank to stir up sand and repeat process. Keep doing it till holding bin is full then tranfer old sand to new tank. Hopefully I can find some baby RFA's while doing it. I know they're in there due to finding two 10mm ones on my rock. Hopefully this is good enough to clean the sand.

 

[BadPanda]

I read somewhere to not distrub a deep sandbed. At what dept would anyone consider a substrate as deep sandbed?

 

[Matt Carden]

I say if you can move the tank with the old sand undisturbed then do that. It may be too heavy with the sand in the tank to move. I am biased because I am going for the natural look which includes detritus, algae, etc. in my sand bed.

 

[Leo58]

I don't understand the reason for rinsing the sand unless you have really nasty gunks in the sand. By rinsing the sand, you remove all the wonderful creatures living in it so can someone enlightened me on the benefits of rinsing with a few examples? By the way I love some spaghetti worms, I would pay for the shipping if you don't want them;)

 

[Matt Carden]

I read somewhere to not distrub a deep sandbed. At what dept would anyone consider a substrate as deep sandbed?

A fine substrate like beach sand might be 3 or 4 inches while a course substrate like special grade would be
6 inches. It would be ok to disturb dsb while moving just not with animals in tank.

 

[Tuffloud1]

I'm against throwing away good sand, so I wash it in the driveway. I just dump a pile there and hose it until its clean. (drives my neighbor nuts, probably, but I kind of like a little coral sand on the edge of my drive.)

Some folks don't want to rinse old nasty tank sand. They would toss the old and buy new. If they understand the linked thread they will rinse the new to remove the fines. Rinsing new sand might be faster, cleaner, and maybe easier than washing the old but that really depends on how clean the new is? I don't know the answer to that last question, or which kind of person you are with regards to washing sand. Both are good, do as you like! HTH.

After you clean the sand with tap water, do you rinse with rodi water before putting back in tank?

 

[Matt Carden]

After you clean the sand with tap water, do you rinse with rodi water before putting back in tank?

I only rinse new sand and tap water fine not that much contaminants remaining to worry about.