Moving a tank... Twice..

[Myka]

Lots of detritus in a typical sandbed so you can have issues with noxious areas becoming waterborne. Also, when you move it the top layers mix with the bottom layers, and aerobic areas suddenly become anaerobic and anaerobic suddenly becomes aerobic causing lots of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria to die-off. You'll usually get an ammonia spike when you move a sandbed (not nitrate). Sometimes you can remove the sandbed and clean it really, really well, dry it out, and then put it back in, but definitely don't move it "live". Ammonia is the killer in a tank move.

I also recommend that anytime you do a tank move you have some Prime or AmQuel on hand as well as a SeaChem Ammonia Alert badge ($10). Put the badge in the tank and it gives you live ammonia readings. The readings themselves aren't too accurate in my experience, but I've had 100% success using these badges simply to alert me when there is ammonia present. If there's color on the badges besides yellow, add a dose of AmQuel (or Prime), wait 4 hours, add again if needed.

[brisco]

so when I vac clean my sand bed in my display, I risk the same ammonia spike? I usually give it a pretty good stir.

I also have a tank move in my future, while the flooring gets redone.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by brisco

so when I vac clean my sand bed in my display, I risk the same ammonia spike? I usually give it a pretty good stir.

I also have a tank move in my future, while the flooring gets redone.

You don't if the sand bed is shallow and you always vacuum it. If the sand bed has been in there awhile and not been vacuumed, then you have to go slow, or yes you risk the same thing. Shallow sand beds (less than about 3/4") won't have any anaerobic areas anyway, except under the rocks. So when you do a tank move and you're moving the rocks and getting into places that never get touched, that's where the risk is.

[brisco]

Yes my sand bed is mostly shallow, except where the goby and pistol shrimp build a condominium! I do a vacuum about once a month and stir up all the areas that I can but really that is only about 70% of the tank floor. The rocks are on the glass bottom.

I can see what you are saying about move time. There will definitely be areas of previously undisturbed sand. I guess that I will replace all the sand then. Live sand would be best, I am guessing.

The aquarium live stock will be temporarily transferred for a few hours while the flooring is replaced, but really the impact to the inhabitants will probably be as traumatic as a full move I would imagine.

[Myka]

Live sand in a bag really isn't important. It's the same thing as using live bacteria in a bottle. It provides you with nitrifying bacteria, but it is not "live" in any other sense, and honestly, the little packet of nitrifying bacteria that is provided with the "live" sand just goes into the water column anyway. I wouldn't waste my money on "live" sand. The other benefit I see from using "live" sand is that the tank water clears faster, but that's simply because the sand has been wet for a long period of time. If you pre-wash new, dry sand and then let it soak you'll achieve the same thing. You can even wash the new sand with "used" saltwater from each water change if you really want to.