Use old water or start fresh?

[dc4]

Once you disturb the sand, it will release toxic gases as it holds nitrates and slowly converts it to good bacteria however its a slow process.

[parkinsn]

Originally Posted by dc4

Once you disturb the sand, it will release toxic gases as it holds nitrates and slowly converts it to good bacteria however its a slow process.

Ohhh... You beat me to the punch.

You stiring up the sand and a conch are two different things. How long has your sand been in the tank?

[ScubaSteve]

Trust us, you want new sand. When you transfer that tank and stir the sand up you'll see why. There is all sorts of funky going on in there. You might find some of the areas buried under rocks has become anaerobic and smells like rotten eggs. I find I feel just gross after handling old sand.

Sand is like the kitty litter of this hobby. Everyone poops on it. It's gross.

[parkinsn]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Trust us

I dont know if I would go that far

You can take a few "scoops" of your sand to get your new sand going. Just dont x-fer all of it.

[howdy20012002]

if you do use your sand, wash it really really well.
everytime I have tried moving sand without washing, bad things happened.
as everyone else has said, there is alot of stuff in sand that sitting in buckets for a few days won't get rid of.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by parkinsn

I dont know if I would go that far

You can take a few "scoops" of your sand to get your new sand going. Just dont x-fer all of it.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by parkinsn

You can take a few "scoops" of your sand to get your new sand going. Just dont x-fer all of it.

But in all seriousness, this is the way to go. Whenever I transfer my tank I get new sand and add about a few cups of the old sand the "seed" it.

Just as a counter point to this, I know a guy on here who rebuilds his tank regularly and washes the sand to re-use it. He, however, is doing this with a 20G where it is much, much easier to do a really good job of washing the sand.

[The Grizz]

I have move sand from 2 - 65 gal tanks in to my 165 gal after washing, transferred ALL the old water & rock topped it off with new water to desired salinity, let it all settle for a day & in went all my fish & coral, didn't lose a thing.

Also did the same with my FOWLR. I think the key is to use the right thing to wash the sand, I used a fairly large fish net with very small netting. Washed a couple cups at a time in water as hot as I could handle.

Not going to say it's the right thing to do but it has worked for me every time I have moved a tank.

[Proteus]

Twice now I've moved sand for upgrades. Sand was slightly washed and put into tank. Were it was filled with old water circulated for a few days then water change to remove all the crap. So far so good.

Correct me if I'm wrong but is the sand not from the ocean where the fish there poop on it there.