Moving a 10g tank and changing sand

[likwid]

Hey guys,

I'm planning on moving my 10g tank to a different house, and was wondering what the best way to go about doing this would be. Currently, the only inhabitants of the tank are various corals, snails, anemone, and hermit crabs. I would also like to change out the sand bed to a new finer sand. What is the best way to do this? This is the only tank I own, so would I have to store everything in a bucket or something after I change the sand if there is a cycle? Thanks

[Ruth]

I have moved my 20g office tank 3 times in the last year (it's at home now even though they have assured me no more moves)
It's easy - just have some transport buckets (I use old salt buckets with lids). Take all your rock out first and put it in a bucket - cover with tank water. Then take some additional water and put it in another bucket and move all your inhabitants to that. Try to take as much clean tank water as you can. Then just dump the remaining water and sand into whatever disposal devise you are going to use.
Make sure you have lots of freshly mixed new salt water at your new location. Place the rock in the tank and stack it the way you like. As I take the rock out of the transport water I like to have a bucket of salt water to swish the rock around in and remove as much trapped gunk as I can. Once the rock is stacked then pour as much clean tank water out of the transport bucket as you can. I have noticed that during transport a bit of crap seems to come off the rock so try and not put that back into the tank. Then just add the remaining transport water with your corals and critters into the tank and top up with fresh water. If you are planning to add more sand then you should do that after you place the rock and maybe give it a day to settle. If you do this make sure that you have a small powerhead in the transport bucket with your critters in it.
Sorry for the long post - but that's how I do it.

[likwid]

Wow thanks that is perfect. Just a couple more questions about adding new sand. Will removing all my old sand and adding new sand into the tank create a cycle? Shouldnt I pour the sand in before I place the rock, so it doesnt all settle on the rock? Thanks again.

[Ruth]

In a 10g tank it probably doesn't matter if you remove all the sand and replace it with new. In a tank that small the sand is only for your viewing pleasure and you are really getting no benefit for the tank from it. You may want to consider just going bare bottom but it is up to you.
Again, in a 10g tank it probably doesn't matter if you put the sand in first and then the rock. I prefer to have the rock sitting directly on the glass bottom of the tank and using the sand to actually stabilize the rock a little - you can always use a turkey baster to blow any sand off the rock that settles there. I only have sand in one tank now and am going to probably remove it within the next year or so. It is in a 230g tank so I will probably remove it in 3 or 4 batches.