DSB questions

[Fiish]

I have a 90 gallons FOWLR, and I have a DSB about 5 ", I'm going to replace my old stand tank with a new one this weekend, and I was planning to use some of my sand in a 27 gallon tank that I want to use for a pair of clownfish, taking advantage of the fact that the tank will be almost empty to be able to move it from one base to another. Moving part of that volume of sand from one tank to another should have consequences, but is there a way to do it without damaging the conditions in the water chemistry? If I want to move the entire sand bed from one tank to another in the future? I intend to change from 90 gallons to 180 gallons in the coming months.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

You will have a lot of detritus in the sand so it should be cleaned before moving it.
Filtration is accomplished by your live rock.

 

[HumbleFish]

I would only remove the very top layer. The problem with a DSB is possibly hitting a sulfur pocket if you dig too deeply. Doesn't always happen, but is catastrophic when it does.

 

[Fiish]

I would only remove the very top layer. The problem with a DSB is possibly hitting a sulfur pocket if you dig too deeply. Doesn't always happen, but is catastrophic when it does.

This is what I meant, I don't want to cause a catastrophe in my tank, if I scrape off the top layer of the sand then it will surely be insufficient for a large tank. I'm looking for options to move the entire bed safely, or to include a new sand bed in my budget.

 

[HumbleFish]

This is what I meant, I don't want to cause a catastrophe in my tank, if I scrape off the top layer of the sand then it will surely be insufficient for a large tank. I'm looking for options to move the entire bed safely, or to include a new sand bed in my budget.

I wouldn't remove the entire sand bed without removing all the livestock first. If you smell sulfur in the water, you'll need to clean all the sand before reusing it.

 

[Fiish]

Yes, my plan is remove all the fish, rocks and water, and then try to put the sand in the other tank, also adding a few more pounds of live sand; but this will be in my change from 90G to 180G, so I have time to come to a conclusion.

 

[Fiish]

Hello again, returning to this topic, I am going to take out my sand DSB and replace it with a thin layer of live aragonite, but I want to ask you, if I wash my current sand with water from my tank, can I reuse it in another tank? or do I have to reset it?

 

[Fiish]

No one?

 

[littletnklvr]

I just upgraded my tank today new tank being twice the size of the old tank and used all new sand, I've done other upgrades over the years and never used the old sand unless I clean till it looks and smells like new, all the stuff in the sand came originally from the rock and will again in your new tank.

 

[Fiish]

Are you talking about resetting the sand? I have new dry sand, but I would like to use the same from my tank in a refugium. I moved a light layer of my DSB about a month ago, only an inch or less and the result was catastrophic, I lost my flame angelfish that was already approaching 4 years in my tank.

 

[Tcook]

Buy new sand for the 27 gallon. Use the 90 gallon as a sump for the 180. As mentioned above, I would wash the sand thoroughly until all detritus is removed. I would dry the sand and wait until you have the 180 to add it then and let it cycle when you move the rock. Is there a reason you need to mess with it now before you have the 180? Is the current stand damaged? Seems like more risk than it's worth. One bag of new live sand should take care of the 27.

 

[Timfish]

If you want to use some of the sand from your 90 it can be washed in saltwater to preserve bacteria and endoliths. The method I use gets most of the detritus out but it is messy. Using 2 5 gallon buckets siphon off 1-2 gallons in one bucket (this minimizes stiring it up and getting a lot of detritus in the water). Dump off the water from the busket of sand. Siphon of about 2-3 gallons into the other bucket. This is the real messy part, quickly invert the busket of sand into the bucket of water. repeat this 3 or 4 times and most of the detritus will be flushed out of the sand. Any black or anaerobic sand don't use, the only way to remove all the anearobic bacteria is to rinse thuroghly in fresh water then soak in H2O2.