Changing tanks----take the sandbed or buy new?

[Arik]

I have about a 1" sandbed in my tank, and plan on changing tanks sometime soon. I've had this tank about a year and a half, and would like some input on whether or not I can simply scoop out the existing sandbed and put it in the new tank before I fill it up. I plan on emptying the existing tank so that the sand is exposed, scooping the sand into the new empty tank, then filling that tank with the old tank's water.

 

[sschafer]

What kind of sand is it? Last night I ripped my entire tank apart to get every single last bit of Southdown OUT! I will never use that stuff again. Regardless of what the sand is, I personally would replace it. If you want to reuse the sand I would wash the heck out of it and get all the detritus etc. out of it. Lots of nasty stuff can build up in the sandbed so a thorough washing is required. One major downside to removing the sand is the removal of all the beneficial bacteria that grows there as well. If your tank is well stocked with live rock you shouldn't have an issue removing the sand. If, however, your live rock is rather sparse you may be removing more beneficial bacteria than is advisable.

Steve

 

[Arik]

I do have about 100lbs of LR, so the bacteria shouldn't be an issue. I'm just concerned that disturbing the sandbed would cause an ammonia spike and cause major issues.

I WON'T go barebottom yet.........I like starboard, but I really like the sand and I have yet to have an issue with organics in the year and a half that it's been setup.

 

[drbronx]

I'm about to transfer tanks as well. What I plan to do is slowly (over the course of a few days) remove a few scoops of the old sandbed which is loaded with bacteria, worms, copepods etc. from the garf grunge that I initially used to colonize the tank into the new tank then cover with new sand. That way the old sand can "seed" the new sand. It is important to carefully monitor water chemistry during the transfer. There are some commercial products such as Korallins AZ-NO3 which is a nitrate and dissolved organics transporter compound.

 

[drtango]

If it's only a one inch deep sandbed, get new sand. There's likely not a whole lot of denitrification going on in there, so why risk adding the bound organics? The rock will re-populate the sand with critters.

If I was to put sand in my tank, and, like Steve, I don't think I ever will, I would go with a fairly coarse substrate and periodically siphon sections of it out of the tank and replace with new.

Keep in mind that most reefers don't see problems with their sandbeds until year 3 or 4--if you're planning a teardown or move in that time period, then it really doesn't matter.

If you're sold on a sandbed, particularly a DSB, get the biggest skimmer your electric supply will support........

John

 

[becon776]

New sand bed... definately save a couple cupfulls of the old and put it in with the new. I just setup a new tank and used the live sand from CF... don't know if I agree with all the purported advertisements but this stuff created VERy little cloudiness.. there was very little diatom growth (and I'm using tap), and there was no cycle that registered (the rock was already cycled though so I don't know if the sand had anything to do with that) Plus there is nothing nicer than a nice new shiny sandbed to look at... it almost helps to deal with the emptiness of a bigger/ new tank.
JmWTC