swapping tanks question

[new2natives]

i have a 180g tank, established and running for years
it has a medium-deep sand bed,
two filters and lots of bio balls floating on the surface

so my problem is that i need to clear the room that the tank is in and turn it into a nursery!!

getting the 180g into the room that i want a tank in would be a challenge to say the least, based on a narrow hallway
i may be able to get it in there, but not without disturbing the sand bed that hasnt been touched in a long time, and releasing the anaerobic bacteria scares me

my other option is to take a dry 125 i have, and put it in the new room, and then use the water, filters, and bio balls from the 180g (but not the sand)

there is only one 18" diamond sturgeon in the tank, and it will only be in there a few months until my pond thaws.

but im worried about losing my established bacteria from the tank and sand, even though i have the established filters that i will be using.

what does everyone think?

i should be fine swapping to the 125, right?

or should i syphon and discard the sand from the 180, then attempt to put it in the new room?
will disturbing the sand release a bunch of killer bacteria?




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[Gill Blue]

sounds fine, but no need to use the dirty water if you can match the new water to the correct params.

 

[poppalina]

After you drain the 180 you could always remove some of the sand.

 

[MyGiants]

You won't lose the bacterial if you don't clean it to well. Disturbing the sand won't kill anything. You've gravel vac'd before haven't you that didn't kill anything. Just move the fish to a Ice chest. Drain the tank all the way down leaving the gravel intact. If its still too heavy to move you can remove some of the gravel. Setting it back up just replace the gravel taken out. Refill the tank with correct temp from the faucet. You could of saved some of the old water into a plastic garbage can. Then just put the fish back in.

 

[jeremoose]

The thing will be waaaaay too heavy to move with all that sand in it. I'd say your only choice is to move the sand into the 125g, move the 180g, replace the sand, and away you go. Or just remove the sand and go bare bottom!