As the title states, I am moving here shortly.

I have had my BC 29 set up since may of this year. The sand bed is only about 1/2" - 1 1/2" deep. Do you think it would be okay to keep the sand bed after the move if I take care not to disturb it much? Or should I just go ahead and replace the whole thing...? If it matters, I've kept a relatively light bioload (2 medium sized black saddle clowns).

Answers, tips and comments would be gladly appreciated. Thanks

When I moved my BC29 I took all the old sand out and put in new. I kept all my rock and every drop of water, everything is doing great I didn't even have a spike in my ammonia!

The tank moving bible:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...3&st=0&

"I just added the new sand after I set up my scape, rinsed it before hand. To be super safe you could cycle it before hand but it is a small aspect biologically compared to the rock. It did go though an algae cycle shortly after the new set up but that lasted less than two weeks. I would not recommend every trying to move the sand after seeing what was actually in it. I can see it crashing the new set up quickly."

StevieT says no

I know about that one. Thanks.

Looking for specifics about how long it takes a sand bed to become established, and thus, risky to keep when moving.

Yeh, would be a good time to replace live sand.

When I moved my 150 I kept all of the sand. I just rinsed it really well with the water from the tank and kept it wet in the move. You shouldn't have to discard your sand as long as you rinse it well.

Thanks for the replies guys...

I really don't wanna shell out another 30-40 bucks for new sand... I guess I could go with dry sand though...

waiting to hear some more replies here.

EDIT: hear not here -.-

ive kept my sand when i switched tanks, just rinsed the sand really well in tank water to trap most of the crap in the sand. never had any problems

I would say anything over 6 months. Save $40 or crash a $3000+ set up was my choice. If you want to save the sand rinse the crap out of it, is so full of detritus that you will not want in your new water area/filtration setup.

It wasn't worth my time to rinse.

I am also moving in about a month and have been wondering about this as well. I only have 10lbs of live sand on my 12g so I don't know if I should move with it. The drive from the old home to the new home is roughly 1.5 hours away but I probably won't have the tank set up again for 2.5 hours. Would it be safe to keep the sand or just buy new? I just have 2 clowns, 2 pieces of hammer, a big patch of GSP, and a frogspawn in the tank.

In that small of a tank you can keep some of the water in and just pick up the tank. But it will slosh around pretty good during the move. It is a risk but you could move it with the sand. Just make sure it doesn't get too cold during the moving period.

Does the fact that I only have 10lbs of sand matter? I know most people tend to recommend 2lb of sand per gal but I didn't know any better when I was setting up the tank. I really don't mind spending $20 on sand if it's going to put the lives of my clowns in jeopardy.

It is all relative in the fact that a smaller tank will have a lesser amount of sand. There is no rule to a sand level it is only aesthetic in any tank unless you do 4+ inches. Your rock is your main bio filter.

From my experience I would replace it. After seeing the water and stirring it up I can see it causing issues if not careful. Just pick through it to find all the life you can ie worms, pods, snails etc.

Ahh ok thanks I guess I will just replace it.

I had to do an "emergency move" in one day, i bought a new house and had to be out of the old one, before i could move into the new one. Luckily the people i bought the house from let me set the tank up. But i literally had an hour to take down and set up my tank. Stupid red-tape etc.

I kept my sandbed due to lack of any other option, no time to rinse, no time to replace. I just emptied all but the last inch of water over the sandbed in my 24g nano. The tank was 8 months old at the time.
I had 0 problems what-so-ever. I kept all of my water and filled it back up. I was only moving 10 minutes away though so that was a factor (things in my sandbed didnt have time to die off, just got stirred up).

On a side note, my clownfish are so friendly i just stuck my hand in and grabbed them, then plopped them into a bucket with some rock and water.


If you have the time though, replace the sandbed.

i have a 62G DT(display tank) with about 90lbs of sand. ive had the tank for a year now but durring my year of having it ive moved it form living room, to my room, then after 6 months back to living room. took out all the water except a tiny bit about .5" over the sand and moved the tank. my sand bed got stirred up and i could see a whole bunch of stuff in it. but i had little time due to work. so i put everything back in. next thing you know everything was still perfect. been that way all 3 moves. may not be for a long time but the sand bed still got thrown around a bit.

I subscribe to the *better safe than sorry* method. Even if the chance of catastrophe is 1/2000000, if there is a reasonable procedure that will further shield me from being that "1" I'm taking it. Especially with the monetary investment/replacement ratio

Just moved 3 reef tanks this past week, kept the sand from all of them. I've done it that way for over 20 tank moves, but as a disclaimer, none of my tanks have much sand in them, an inch at the most.

I drain the tank all the way down to the top of the sand then dump the rest of the water doing my best to not lose any sand, then I pour a little bit of water back into the tank and dump again. Then proceed about moving as normal. Like I said though, I don't have much sand. I wouldn't reuse any more than a 1.5" to 2" sand bed.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I'll let you know what I decide to do and how everything turns out.

noob question: how come a shallow sand bed is ok to move and not as dangerous? wouldn't there be just as much crap in there?

Deeper sand beds have *pockets* of trapped (toxic to fish) gas. Shallow(er) sand beds get turned over and sifted a little more and there is less chance of those toxic pockets. So shallow beds of sand are a safer bet to move and keep intact cuz while there is loads of crap, its less toxic crap in lesser quantities.

*Best Homer Voice* MmmmMMmmmm saaaandy craaaaaaap