How do you avoid toxic live sand on a physical move?

[lazarus]

We've sold our house and I am facing the move of my 100g FOWLR tank with a 20g refugium to a rental down the street. I am NOT looking forward to this.

I've read that disturbing live sand could set off some type of toxic discharge. Any truth to this? How do I deal with this during the move? Remove fish, discard sand and start over? The sandbed has been undisturbed for about 8 years. I would hate to buy more, but am fearful that a chemical reaction from disturbed sand could kill my livestock.

Help!

 

[tonysi]

From what I have heard in the past is that if you stir up up the sand bed it can cause an ammonia spike, so Im guessing do a heck of a lot of water changes to keep it to zero on tests. I'm not a 100% on this though so hopefully someone with this particular experience can chime in and help you out. Good luck with the move.

 

[lazarus]

I do 15-20% now every 2 weeks but have to move asap. I wonder if I could test for ammonia to determine risk in advance? Otherwise, removing fish, dumping sand, and starting over seems the safest, but then the sand won't be live sand and I guess introduces other risks. Yep, I hope I will hear from others.

 

[flower]

Hi,

I have moved at least 4Xs with a 90g in tow. This is my method, I did lose a cleaner shrimp on the last move, one made it, but the other just fell over dead from I don't know what...but I have never lost a fish.

You do not save the water ... Have new mixed saltwater already waiting for the tank when you get to the new place. Once you have removed all critters to plastic bags, swish the sand around and then remove it to buckets, leaving the dirty water behind... it's kind of 'rinsed" and will not have any toxins to worry about once you add the new water to it. The toxins are form stagnant stuff trapped in the sand...and then released into the water, since you are not saving the water, the toxins if any, are released from the sand.

Resist the urge to clean everything since it's all broke down... leave all the old sponges, and whatever else has good bacteria all over it, alone...DO NOT CLEAN IT. You can rinse stuff in saltwater without a concern, but if you clean stuff up, you lose the good bacteria. There is very little good bacteria in the water, it's on all the hard surfaces and sponges. That's really the secret to a successful move. Don't worry about the water, protect the good bacteria colonies.

The critters in your tank give off a certain amount of ammonia, and the bacteria colonies match your fish that was originally in the tank. So that is much more of a concern then stuff that might be trapped in the sand under the rocks.

 

[lazarus]

THIS IS GREAT ADVICE AND THE MISSING PIECE IN MY PLAN! Thanks so much. My 50-step workplan is now complete.

 

[flower]

THIS IS GREAT ADVICE AND THE MISSING PIECE IN MY PLAN! Thanks so much. My 50-step workplan is now complete.

Great! Let us know how the move went... and whatever you do, empty the tank before you move it. People have moved tanks with sand and such in it, but it's very dangerous, since the entire tank is held together with just a line of silicone on each corner... only move the tank once it's 100% empty, last thing you need is a leaky tank while your critters sit in baggies, and you run around trying to buy a new tank on top of moving.

 

[RobP]

Just to add my two cents from when I moved mine from upstairs to downstairs is I took out half my water and saved it. then I removed my live rock into a cooler with the saved water. Than I removed everything else from the tank and I cleaned the sand right in the tank, outside of course, and smelt the sand. If it smelled fishy I was going to use new but it didn't so I started putting everything back together and was very lucky because I didn't loose anything. Good luck though and let us know how it goes.

 

[immortality44]

so I have a question, sorry if I should be going about this in a different way but Ilve looked and been looking and am still looing for an answer and feel like I'm doing more damage by waiting. I just set up my tank on friday 75gal. a friend had a 75 gal and gave me every thing live rock sand fish. I have the fish and live rock in the tank. seem to be fine. the issue is the sand until I got it saturday had not been touched in 6 years, its dirty and I didnt want tio just throw it in my nice clean water. so its been sitting in a five gallon bucket since saturday three days today. what can or should I do with the sand? I want to add it to my tank, Can I add it as is or should I clean it?? Please help and thank you in advance.

 

[bang guy]

so its been sitting in a five gallon bucket since saturday three days today. what can or should I do with the sand? I want to add it to my tank, Can I add it as is or should I clean it?? Please help and thank you in advance.

If it has been sitting in a bucket since Saturday I would suggest you not use any of it.

 

[immortality44]

If it has been sitting in a bucket since Saturday I would suggest you not use any of it.

I cant clean it ? its literally garbage dirt now and I can not do anything to save it or use it later on?

 

[bang guy]

It can be cleaned if you have the time. For me it wouldn't be worth the time.

If you clean a gallon of sand at a time using clean fresh water until it runs clear it will be clean enough. ie. 1 gallon of sand in a bucket and use a garden hose to stir it around until the water is clear.

A fishy smell is good. A rotten eggs smell means there is still Hydrogen sulfide present.

 

[immortality44]

ok so for sake of the post, would I have been alright to just put the sand in my tank as soon as I got it and been fine? I've looked and am still looking for answers to this question and it seems like a huge gray area.

 

[bang guy]

That would have been fine. The issue is Carbon dioxide. Without a constant flow of oxygenated water over the sand the bacteria will choke on their CO2 and die which pollutes the sand.

For future reference, 90% of the sand bed life is in the top 1/2" of sand. My suggestion would have been to use mostly new sand and then top with the upper 1/2" of your old sand bed.

Apologies for arriving late.

 

[immortality44]

That would have been fine. The issue is Carbon dioxide. Without a constant flow of oxygenated water over the sand the bacteria will choke on their CO2 and die which pollutes the sand.

For future reference, 90% of the sand bed life is in the top 1/2" of sand. My suggestion would have been to use mostly new sand and then top with the upper 1/2" of your old sand bed.

Apologies for arriving late.

its not ur fault, really is mine for waiting and not doing what my gut said to do. Thank you for clearing this up for me, and thank you from anyone else that will hopfully learn from my mistake. At the very least something good will come from it. too bad it was me but, for the greater good I am blessed to be apart of it.

 

[RobP]

There is another option too, no sand. I've heard of people being very successful without a sand bed at all but that of course depends on what you plan on stocking the tank with.

 

[flower]

ok so for sake of the post, would I have been alright to just put the sand in my tank as soon as I got it and been fine? I've looked and am still looking for answers to this question and it seems like a huge gray area.

Hi,

You have had the sand in the bucket too long now, I wouldn't trust it... you need to rinse it like Bang Guy said, or get new sand. You could have used it right away, once you broke down the tank, and swish the sand around, anything toxic would have been released and dumped with the old water.... However you put the sand in a bucket for 5 days now...critters that were alive have now been buried so deep there is die off... since you already have live fish in the tank, you can't allow the sand to cycle naturally anymore.

I did read where one person used a pillow case, filled it with his dirty long sitting sand and took a hose to it until it ran clear... sounds lots easier then using a bucket. Once the sand is "clean", there are still dead little bodies in it....I would put it in a shallow container/tub to cure in saltwater, and cycle it before using it. It might help to hurry things along with some macroalgae and a light over the tub.