moving tank. what to do with sand?

INDK617

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2008
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Portland, ME
so im kind of a newb with saltwater but i set my aunt up a 90 gal FOWLR tank like a year ago.

she no longer wants it and is giving it to me. but i got a question.

I'm moving it about 2 miles. i know what do with the fish and live rock but i dont know about the sand. should i just leave it in the tank wet and try and move it? or should i take it out?

i dont wanna try and move it down some stairs and have it be wicked heavy but even more i dont wanna take it out and screw anything up.

mfk, what should i do???
 

fishy12

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2009
2,738
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ohio
Never leave gravel or sand in a tank while moving... Thats my opinion. It adds extra unwanted weight and can scratch the tank. Put it in 5 gallon buckets if you need.
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
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Central Wisconsin
fishy12;4273846; said:
Never leave gravel or sand in a tank while moving... Thats my opinion. It adds extra unwanted weight and can scratch the tank. Put it in 5 gallon buckets if you need.
+1...you should never move an aquarium with anything in it. This strains it, and is probably one of the more common causes of leaks in used aquariums.

I move my sand in coolers, five gallon buckets, bags...whatever you can get your hands on. Basically anyway you can move it and hold some moisture in.

Heres the problem. Once a sandbed is disturbed you are mixing up lots of detritus and disturbing a pretty fragile balance. When this sand goes back in there is going to be a die off and its going to at least do a mini-cycle. Your best bet is to either wash the sand with SW, rinse it with freshwater (only if its really bad and realize that you are going to completely re-cycle your tank), or replace your sand.

You could also just dump it in, but that might be messy. Be prepared to do a water change the day after or shorty after that to help deal with the problems.

I have moved sand beds a couple times, and done everything I have described above. I have never really had too bad of a die off either, guess I am just lucky. Hope it goes well.
 

RoastReef

Candiru
MFK Member
Aug 18, 2009
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San Martin, CA
I've done the same thing every time I've moved/upgraded tanks. This is assuming you've already re set-up the tank minus the sand. Put the sand in 5 gallon buckets (or other container) and rinse it out really well with your hose. You can just stick the hose all the way to the bottom of the bucket and stir up all the sand really good until it rinses clean. After that I let it dry completely (fastest way is to spread it all out on something like a clean tarp) and then I slowly add it to the tank over a period of time (I add some every 3-4 days). Last time I did this I used several hundred pounds and had no problems with cycling, losing fish/coral, etc. This is just my experience though, so you should do whatever makes you feel comfortable.

Edit: Oh yeah, as was already mentioned, do not try to move the tank with sand in it as it can tweak the tank.
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
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Central Wisconsin
Roast reef, I did exactly what you said about a month ago. +1 for a better description than me! ha
 
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