Sand bed question

[tdbrown75]

My wife has finally agreed to let me get my 150 gallon upgrade, and I am the process of making a list of all the things I will need and am planning for the migration from my 75.

I was wondering if it is OK to move my existing sand bed to the new tank along with everything else. My sand bed is about 2 inches deep, and I plan on going with about 1.5 inches in my new tank. I am going to need some new sand, but I am trying to figure out how much to buy.

Will moving the existing sand bed all at once with all of my rock, water and corals do any harm? I do not want to pollute my tank with anything that might be build up in there, but it would be a shame not to use it!

 

[tdbrown75]

Thanks Matt, that’s what I was afraid of. The bed is 3 years old, and I can only imagine what dwells just under the surface might not be too healthy to stir up!

 

[bchdFLdian]

I know everyone suggests otherwise but I must mention that we moved a 3" sandbed from 75 gallon from Dallas to Temple in rubbermaid bins in the back of a pick up truck (keeping 1" of water covering the sand).

Everything was completely fine once things were re-setup.

(All levels were perfect for 2 weeks until my husband wanted to remove a smelly old sock full of nitrate sponge that he didn't realize had been there for years. It released a ton of junk and caused a severe nitrate spike.)

Still, not everybody has the same experience, and probably won't. But it didn't hurt us. When we move sometime next year we actually plan to only take a few cupfuls of old sand to seed new sand with at our destination.