Moving live sand

[CleanReef]

Hello and thanks for reading,

I've decided to upsize my tank a bit. I've done a lot of reading and can say that most of the solid knowledge I've found has come from this site. With that being said, I have not found a good link about moving live sand from one talk to another... especially when the new one is so much larger.

I've currently got a 55 up and running (for a (3) few years now). I'm moving to a 180... quite a bit bigger. In any case, my ecosystem in the 55 has been very stable and I have enjoyed it lots. The 55 is very lightly stocked so relocating critters to a temporary tank shouldn't be an issue.

Ideally what I'd like to do is move the critters from the 55 to a quarantine tank with a few larger pieces of live rock from the 55, drain the 55 almost completely, scoop the sand out of it, and transfer it to the 180 across the room. I'm doing this because #1 sand is expensive and #2 I think I've got a good culture going in the existing bed. What I was going to do after I move it to the 180 is add an additional 120 lbs that I've already bought new and sort of spread it out in a way where the existing sand will be spread out with new sand in between. This way, hopefully, the sand will propagate bacteria to the new quicker. I was also going to move the live rock I already have to the 180 in a similar fashion. I've got a bunch of other live rock in addition to the 55 as well.

Is this something that would work? I've seen a lot of articles talking about reusing sand, but they wash it with cold fresh water until it runs clear, which I dont think would be a good idea if I'm planning on keeping the bacteria intact, and most of those articles are talking about moving the same tank, or moving to a tank of similar size.

I'll admit I am newer to the hobby than many of you are. I do things that are not so common in the hobby. But I need help like anyone else. You all are great and I'm happy to hear any suggestions you might have.

Have a good day

 

[JZinCO]

You know it's discussed alot around here and I would say, to each their own.
I would prefer rinsing all the sand, new and old and just be patient to let the bacteria re-colonize. That's also because I don't like to clean or disturb sand while in the tank so I know it has built up detritus. Why transfer abundant amounts of detritus?
Rinsing also helps the sand settle quicker (not a big deal either way) but, if you still have the old-sand gunk you will notice it settle out last. What it bother you that your new tank will look like a mud flat? Or will you cap the old sand with the new sand?

Also to give you another option, how about putting your old sand into a holding tank. Put in fresh saltwater, stir up the sand and syphon out the suspended gunk. You still get to keep your sand "live" but will have less issues associated with old sand. I ALMOST went this route but last second decided to rinse everything with cold water. I'm very happy with my decision considering I had corals and some cured sand and rock in the new tank already.

 

[CleanReef]

thank you

thank you

Also to give you another option, how about putting your old sand into a holding tank. Put in fresh saltwater, stir up the sand and syphon out the suspended gunk. You still get to keep your sand "live" but will have less issues associated with old sand. I ALMOST went this route but last second decided to rinse everything with cold water. I'm very happy with my decision considering I had corals and some cured sand and rock in the new tank already.

really good idea. Thanks

 

[scooter31707]

IMO, 3 year old sand, I would dump. I would get new sand and grab about 4-5 cups of the old sand to help seed the new.

 

[CleanReef]

Thanks

Thanks

IMO, 3 year old sand, I would dump. I would get new sand and grab about 4-5 cups of the old sand to help seed the new.

 

[A sea K]

I just transfered (Saturday) all my rock, sand and livestock from my 2yr old 30gal to my new 80gal. I put the bulk of new sand in the 80gal a few weeks ago, scooped the old sand from the 30 and rinsed it with tank water of most of the detritus and put it in the new 80gal on top of the newly placed sand from a few weeks ago. It worked out great with only a very mild clouding of the water which settled out quickly.

Currently all my fish are fine and my corals look great too.

 

[CleanReef]

Thanks very much

Thanks very much

I just transfered (Saturday) all my rock, sand and livestock from my 2yr old 30gal to my new 80gal. I put the bulk of new sand in the 80gal a few weeks ago, scooped the old sand from the 30 and rinsed it with tank water of most of the detritus and put it in the new 80gal on top of the newly placed sand from a few weeks ago. It worked out great with only a very mild clouding of the water which settled out quickly.

Currently all my fish are fine and my corals look great too.

I appreciate your input.

 

[JZinCO]

really good idea. Thanks

You bet. Be prepared to clean out whatever media you use to do physical filtering as well because any fine 'gunk' will clog it up quick.
One more thing, I have used old sand from another reefer before. After rinsing it, I noticed about 20% of my sand was gone! I was surprised at how much, by volume, is accumulated gunk and not actual sand.

 

[WLachnit]

IMO, 3 year old sand, I would dump. I would get new sand and grab about 4-5 cups of the old sand to help seed the new.

Agree. This is exactly what I did when I replaced my tank.

 

[CStrickland]

Re: your idea of spreading the sand around the new stuff, I think it makes more sense to insert pockets of live sand youve saved. Like, most of your bed is rinsed dry fresh sand (which is not expensive) and you can gently poke a few clusters of 'seed' sand into it. That'll allow your benthic critters to migrate into their new home with less disruption, and also bring some healthy bacteria. You're not going to preserve layers of anoxic bacteria or anything, but I think if you mix it all in you'll bust up the worms and sponges too much.

 

[jmm]

After you have the rock and critters transferred to your holding tanks, don't drain most of the water out. Leave enough that you can put a canister or drop-in filter in the tank, stir the sand vigorously and filter the water. Do this repeatedly until the water is clear, changing the filter or filters if need be. Scoop it towards one end and remove most of it and put it on top of the dry sand in the new tank. For a scoop use a colander that will allow the remaining detritus and finer sand particles to stay in the old tank. Don't use it all the way to the bottom of the pile. You won't run into any problems.

 

[CleanReef]

Thank you

Thank you

For all your responses. I see that there are a few different perspectives on the idea. I'll try to update this when I have the results of whatever I choose to do. Thanks again

 

[CleanReef]

good idea by the way!

good idea by the way!

After you have the rock and critters transferred to your holding tanks, don't drain most of the water out. Leave enough that you can put a canister or drop-in filter in the tank, stir the sand vigorously and filter the water. Do this repeatedly until the water is clear, changing the filter or filters if need be. Scoop it towards one end and remove most of it and put it on top of the dry sand in the new tank. For a scoop use a colander that will allow the remaining detritus and finer sand particles to stay in the old tank. Don't use it all the way to the bottom of the pile. You won't run into any problems.