Using my sandbed from old to new tank?

[The Guy]

I've done a lot of reading regarding using old sand beds from one tank to a new set up. I did reuse my sand bed when I changed from my 50 to my 90 as well as all my live rock with no problems, and plan on reusing some of the live rock with my downgrade from my 90 to my 66 g RSM and at least 40 gallons of the old water.
My concern is with the sand bed, some say use all new sand, some say reuse the existing sand or new sand with some of the old to seed it. What about new bagged live sand? I have a mixture of crushed coral and med/fine white sand in the 90 now, should I rinse it in R/O and just use it or ? :help:
I don't want to cause a cycle and risk killing livestock, so I'm asking for some advice and opinions from my friends on Canreef

[Myka]

IMO, don't reuse the sandbed unless it is a very shallow sandbed, and the tank has no nutrient issues. The trouble is that with deeper sandbeds (even 1") there are so many critters that are living in the sand that when you move it many of them die (get crushed) and cause a cycle.

If your sandbed is over about 1/2" I would suggest you buy new sand, and add maybe 6 cups of your old sand (siphoned from the very top layer of the old sandbed).

[Reef Pilot]

I'm sure most here would disagree with me, but I say reuse your old sand. I would rinse in "used" salt water (stored from a water change). You don't want to kill the "life", just rinse out the detritus. I did that years ago, when I set up my downstairs tank, and the cycle just continued with no ammonia or nitrite appearing. You will get some cloudiness, but a bit of MB7 clears that up pretty fast.

Personally, I think (again contrary to popular opinion) new sand is more risky. There is no "life" in it, and may even contain dead organics which could cause a cycle. And will take some time before it can grow enough life to "digest" detritus.

[Aquattro]

I'm sure most here would disagree with me

Nah, I'd agree with you :) I would simply rinse it as you said in tank water, preserving a lot of the bacteria.

[Madreefer]

I'm sure most here would disagree with me, but I say reuse your old sand. I would rinse in "used" salt water (stored from a water change). You don't want to kill the "life", just rinse out the detritus. I did that years ago, when I set up my downstairs tank, and the cycle just continued with no ammonia or nitrite appearing. You will get some cloudiness, but a bit of MB7 clears that up pretty fast.

Personally, I think (again contrary to popular opinion) new sand is more risky. There is no "life" in it, and may even contain dead organics which could cause a cycle. And will take some time before it can grow enough life to "digest" detritus.

I agree with you as well. I rinse rinse rinse. I find that with new sand I rinse just as much. But as Myka said keep a bit to seed the rinsed or new sand.
Those that suggest all new sand, what do you do with your old sand? Throw it out?

[Tom R]

When I used to have sand beds in my tanks I would always use some of the old sand bed to seed the new and the rinsed sand that I was using in the new set up.

I was under the impression that seeding the new set up with sand and live rock from a running system would always speed up or eliminate the time to cycle the new set up.

Good luck Laurie

Tom R

[toytech]

I rinsed and saved most of my old sand from my last tank to use on my current tank as well as bleaching all my liverock and dried it because I wasn't setting up my new tank for almost 2 years . Now its set up nitrates seem to be an issue that ive never had before and im inclined to think its the sand and rock , even though I cleaned everything as much as I could I had nitrates with no fish in the tank for months and still do .

[corpusse]

I always reuse sand. Having moved my garden eel tank I had well over 300lbs of sand I wasn't going to just throw away. That being said I treat old sand exactly the same as new sand. New sand is hell to rinse. Old sand is no different. I rinse it in the sink or outside with the hose if the weather is nice. Lots and lots and lots of tap water. Then rinsed in ro then salt water then in the tank and cloudy like new sand despite the massive rinsing it's rarely enough. If you want to seed the sand keep a cup before you rinse it and add that to the top but imo it's not needed.

[ReEf BoSs]

New sand, maybe add some old. If you really feel like rinsing then go ahead, I wouldn't bother dealing with. If it's a deep sand bed then it's just going to be a dirty mess. I wanted to go BB but I added a .5 inch of new sand when I started my new tank just for looks.

[The Guy]

What about new bagged live sand, has anyone used it?
Yes -No comments please.

[monocus]

how live can a bag of sand be that has been sitting on a shelf for a couple of months?i just rinse my old sand and reuse it-and i have a deep sand bed(between 4-7 inches)

[The Guy]

how live can a bag of sand be that has been sitting on a shelf for a couple of months?i just rinse my old sand and reuse it-and i have a deep sand bed(between 4-7 inches)
Ya Bill that's kinda what I was thinking as well, I think I'm just going to use some of the sand out of the 90 g. I'm using about 50 lbs of live rock from my 90 g and put the sand in last all around the rocks approx. 1/2- 1" deep I'll just do a bit of a rinse with some old tank water before it goes in. I'm hoping to give the new tank a few days and then transfer the livestock. thoughts anyone.

[Aquattro]

If you're adding 50 pounds of currently active rock, you can do whatever you like. New sand, washed old sand, rinsed in tank water old sand, or no sand. Add rock, add water, add livestock. 50# is enough to provide filtration for your tank.

[hfp75]

Ive always reused the sandbed. I rinse it out in the yard with a garden hose......

It's like new when I'm done.... 1/2'ish full salt bucket (with sand) garden hose in & turn on. Arm goes in and start stirring. When it's virtually free of detritus into the tank it goes. Then seed it with 1-2 cups of unwashed sand or live rock that was in the sand... The critters are on the live rock as well....