switching tanks

[Kryten]

I agree with Neal. I reused sand once and it was gross and I had very high ammonia for quite a while. I'll never do that again without totally cleaning it like he suggests.

[bloat]

hmm......I think I may clean it a bit then....at least some of it anyway....
Any tips on how to clean the sand easily??

I was thinking if I put the old sand on the bottom, and new sand over top......and add water without disturbing the substrate too much, then not as much nasty stuff woulld leach out......
That's kinda how I did it when I bought the original setup from the previous owner.....and it worked well.

[howdy20012002]

I would use a window screen or something similiar to clean it.
I have left sand in the tank, moved the tank and put the water back in without much problems.
However, it seems that when you start to remove the sand from the tank, you just move it around too much.
Neal

[digital-audiophile]

I did a switch over the holidays and reused my sand, topping it up with some new stuff. The only adverse effect that I have experienced is a nasty diatom bloom.

[bloat]

Well i did it!!!
114 to 175!!
Used ALL my old sand and topped it with about 60lbs of new sand.
I strained out most of the water out of the sand as I moved it over, and that's it. Took a couple days to clear....but everything is A okay now.
Not as ugly of a job as I thought.....but my DSB was only about 4 yrs old too.
Would reccomend doing...if you spend the time to strain out the water.