Advice needed re sand bed

[matty29]

I have a 5 x 2 x 2 reef with about 2-3" sand bed that has been set up for a year. I have to replace the tank next week and have just had a new one built which is 5.1/2' long x 3' wide x 2'. Question is will I get any problems changing over the sand bed to the new tank? Would it be better to just start with new sand. I know I'll have to add a few more bags anyway but am just a little worried about causing some imbalance/spike because all my corals will have to go straight in to new tank. I will be using existing water plus about 50g of new water. Thanks in advance. kim where are you?:)

[kim]

At the pub. Go away.

:)

kim

[Found Nemo, what now?]

ROFL

Best answer I've seen on here yet!

;)

[kim]

Yes, there can be trouble transferring a bed straight over. Never done it myself, so can't say how to. Many people will start off with a new base of clean sand, and then seed this with the top layer of the existing stuff.

The problems come from a couple of areas.

First, just digging the sand up and chucking it into the new tank will cause the death of many species....from worms to bacteria. Eg, much of the life if buried deep in the new sandbed will quickly suffocate (apart from the general mashing up which will happen). Better for them just to transfer the top of the old sand carefully to the top of the new....you aren't really saving sand, you are seeding the new bed.

Plus, chemical. The lower depths of a sandbed will often contain toxic substances such as sulphides (smell the rotten eggs or see the "grey" sand). These are normally are trapped in the bed, deep where they are safe, with maybe a little bit being released now and then as the bed evolves and pHs change.

A wholesale churning of the bed, placing these at the surface, can cause mass release, rather than a slow release, which could be nasty.

Then just mixing up the nutrient rich upper levels of a bed with the lower levels (which are usually nutrient poor) can cause bacteria to go crazy !

I've never heard of anyone transferring a whole sandbed "intact".

kim

[matty29]

Thanks, Thats what I thought. Sorry for ruining your pint!:p You know I read somewhere that alcohol burns away your brain cells....

[jobr]

I recently had to swap tanks. The one going was about 8 months old.

I purchased some new sand for the base of the new tank.

i kept some old sand skimmed from the top in a holding bucket to seed the new bed.

All the rest of the old sand was well washed and rinsed in fresh water over a few hours.

New sand on the bottom followed by washed old sand and then the sand skimmed from the top mixed in.

A week and a half after the change no issues at all so far, thank god.

[craighuckins]

I also moved house recently, two streets away! It was in November and it snowed on the day of the tank move. I may as well have just gone with a new sand bed as the 3/4 inch sand bed went through a complete algae cycle which I put down to large scale die-off.

[matty29]

Ok, Thanks everyone, gonna go for new sand and seed it. Damn, more expense. Craig, how did your pb take to the move?

[Martyn]

It would be worth using a few lbs from the top 1" layer with out washing it to try to move some of the infauna over to help seed the new sand bed.
Regards
Martyn

Opps did not read all as Jobr said lol sorry jobr missed that bit A good method there of making use of your old sand