broken tank. what to do with sand

[rivensteve13]

My friend has a 125g tank where his brace has broken and the glass is swelling. He has a new tank ready to move his stuff into but I have a question. He has a sand bed of around 4 inches or so. Will moving the old sand into the new tank have any adverse effects? Should he just replace with new sand? His tank is around 5-6 years old. This is going to be quite a project when we get started so just want to make sure all our bases are covered.
Thanks

 

[eja99]

Will moving the old sand into the new tank have any adverse effects?

Yes, I would toss the old sand and start the new tank with a new sandbed.

 

[Rockys_Pride]

+1 on new sand bed.

On the bright side, you can make the old tank a euro braced tank!

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[2thdeekay]

Is it still live? It depends on the condition of the sand, live or dry.

Dry, it's likely just fine if you rinse it well, but depending on previous phosphate levels & water chemistry, it could be loaded with calcium phosphate. High pH/high calcium from dosing kalk can cause calcium phosphate ppt. that may accumulate over time, and rinsing may not adequately remove it.

If it's live and that old, I'd still give most of it a good rinsing--you can save some to re-seed quickly to keep existing creatures happy, but the above still applies.

It just depends on how much economizing is planned. New sand may have less PO4. Good luck!

 

[bertoni]

The sand might be loaded with phosphate. If so, I'd pitch it. Otherwise, it might be okay. You could rinse a sample, and see how much phosphate comes off it, if you'd like. I'd just pitch it, personally.

 

[aleonn]

I'd just scoop a few cups to seed the new tank. The rest of it, I'd either toss or wash very thoroughly before considering putting it into the new tank.

 

[rivensteve13]

Is it still live? It depends on the condition of the sand, live or dry.

Dry, it's likely just fine if you rinse it well, but depending on previous phosphate levels & water chemistry, it could be loaded with calcium phosphate. High pH/high calcium from dosing kalk can cause calcium phosphate ppt. that may accumulate over time, and rinsing may not adequately remove it.

If it's live and that old, I'd still give most of it a good rinsing--you can save some to re-seed quickly to keep existing creatures happy, but the above still applies.

It just depends on how much economizing is planned. New sand may have less PO4. Good luck!

Yeah it's still live. His stank is still set up with some 6 fish and some coral. Everything is pretty good.

 

[rivensteve13]

I'd just scoop a few cups to seed the new tank. The rest of it, I'd either toss or wash very thoroughly before considering putting it into the new tank.

this is what I thought to do as well. I'm just worried about phosphates since I had a tank get run with I dare not say the name, GHA.

 

[tmz]

Personally, I would not use it. 5 plus years of accumulated phosphate and organics, perhaps some containing metals or other toxins could release as you change it over. Seeding the new sand with a cup or two of the old wet sand might help seed the new substrate.