Moving a tank... Twice..

[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.