Irishfist25 May 25, 2016 Share May 25, 2016 Im upgrading from a 75g to a 180g this weekend. The new tank is going in the same spot as the old tank. im using the same sump from the 75, also using powerheads and heaters and such. I dont have the luxury of setting up the new tank, letting everything settle and then transfer the livestock over. Im going to be putting livestock in rubbermaid containers while we move the old tank and set up the new one. My question is about the sandbed. My current tank has 1 1/2 - 2 inches of caribbsea aragonite, i didnt rinse it when i initially set up the tank, have vacuumed it a bunch and have had no issues with it. Most people have told me to just get rid of the old sand and replace it all together. Getting dry sand at this point is probably out of the question because i dont know anybody that carries it and if i order online, it wont be here before the weekend. So i will probably just buy the same live sand that i bought before. Alot of people say to rinse it, but if i rinse it, wont it kill all the living bacteria thats in it. I know it will help eliminate some cloudiness, but i can be careful filling the tank, as i was with the 75 and avoid a lot of that. if the sand is rinsed and all living stuff dies, wouldnt that cause a massive ammonia spike. being that i will have to put my livestock back in the tank after its set up, i cant have that. wouldnt it be better to not rinse the sand and have less die off. I have about 120 pounds of LR from my 75 that will be in the 180 and im using the 75 gallons or so of water from that tank to put in my new tank. in hopes of having a good amount of initial bacteria to eliminate the tank cycling again. Please give thoughts and recommendations as i am carefully trying to plan this out before i begin. The next few days are crammed with stuff i need to do to get ready. Im excited, but nervous. this is my first upgrade/transfer. Thank you in advance for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 May 25, 2016 Share May 25, 2016 You should not rinse live sand, and I agree with using new sand. Some people differ on this, but I would also suggest getting quite a bit of bacteria in a bottle, which should/will help with all the insanity going on in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 May 25, 2016 Author Share May 25, 2016 How much would you recommend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami May 25, 2016 Share May 25, 2016 I've reused my old sand when transferring directly to another tank in the past with no issues. When I did so, I gave the sand a good rinse in tank water, before hand, to export any debris that I was able to get out of it. It seemed to work well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2nhle May 26, 2016 Share May 26, 2016 How about bare bottom? no sand at all. Do you have wrasse fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 May 26, 2016 Author Share May 26, 2016 I don't have wrasse, but scooter blenny likes to burrow in at night. I also like the look of sand better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob A May 27, 2016 Share May 27, 2016 I upgraded from a 125 to a 220 and just moved the sand and rock and water and fish over the course of a day. Didn't have any problems. I had to add more sand and used several bags of new sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOSKN5 May 27, 2016 Share May 27, 2016 I have done this exact thing.. twice actually.. and used live sand (assuming you mean the caribsea life sand in a bag, that may or may not be "live").. the first time I didn't rinse it and it was a cloudy cloudy mess.. for a long time... and anytime anything stirred it it seemed to cloud up... The second time I rinsed the new sand really well... figuring my established rock etc had plenty of bacteria to handle any mini cycles etc... and I was right... no issues and no cloudiness either... For what it's worth I second BB...I never looked back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishfist25 May 27, 2016 Author Share May 27, 2016 Thank you, good to hear from somebody that has done it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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