moving my tank and i need to know how to do it right.

[suncor46]

as the heading shows i am moving my 75gallon dsb. i need to know if i should start of with new sand and use all my live rock and some of the old water or what because i am confused and i want everything to survive the move. anything and everything that you have all experienced would be great and appreciated very much. thank you and look forward to seeing some great suggestions.
thank you so much!!!
suncor46

[DaveC]

I had to move my 72 gallon bow into a 125 gallon tank...the only difference is mine was in the same house but all pretty much still applies....you want to use as much of the old water as possible....and reuse all the old sand...you can add more onto the top if you want to make it deeper...I got a bunch of the plastic tubs from Walmart....siphoned the water into those containers...so were for the live rock....some were for only corals, and the others were for the fish....I did mine during the winter so I needed heaters for the fish and corals..the rock was okay..it took me 10 hours to do the transfer....once your tank is where it is going to get setup add your old sand back into the tank, add any new southdown sand if you want to add will go on top of the old...next you can do either way...I added alittle water first and then starting landscaping the rock....this does not matter.....it is probably easier to do most of the base rock first, then add some water...you don't want to get into having water in the tank and then deciding to shift around the rock work because that will make a sand storm...which by the way you will have some, but if you take your time and are careful it will not be that bad...anyways once you have the water in the water is is best to ensure all rock is stable and how you want it before filling all the way to the top...easier to work with tank 3/4 filled....probably should have stated that before you start you will want to make sure you have at least 20 - 30 gallons of fresh salt water ready to go for top off....you will never be able to reuse it all...depending on how much rock you have...out of a 75 gallon tank you may only have 60 gallons for water maybe less...but I would make sure that at least 20 gallons is fresh salt water...when I did mine I did not have any spike at all in any readings...nothing died, all the fish were happy in there buckets...make sure you cover them to reduce stress while they are in the buckets....once the tank is setup the coral and fish are the last thing to go in....I waited for about another hours or so to let things settle before added the fish and coral..because it took me 10 hours I put a hang on the back filter in the fish container for oxygen...plus I also put a couple small pieces of rock in there for them...security, so they did not feel to out of place...the only die off if any may be within the sand bed but like I said I had no problems what so ever...any questions give me a email
davidcas@cox.net

DaveC

[suncor46]

how deep should the sand be and let say could i use two different types of sand. I currently am using 4in of black sand and would like to start using southdown. so what in all of your opinions should i do?
thanks
suncor46