Is it a good time for a new sand bed?

[Whoyah]

If all goes well, it looks like my wife and I will be buying a new house. :D One of the biggest task in the upcoming move will be to move my reef tank. :-? I have never moved a tank so I am sure that will be adventure. Any suggestions on this are appreciated.

However, my main question right now is about my sand bed. I currently have a plenum system set up which is uses about 4" of 2mm sand. Functionally the system seems to work fine but I not really excited about the look. The lower 3" is a mottled green-grey color. The top 1" is white with a some grains being green-grey. The grain size is pretty chunky. I have also heard of older plenum systems crashing due to some form of sulfate build up. Plus plenum system are not very popular so it is hard to find info or opinions on them.

So, my question is would it be a good idea to change over to different type of sand bed and if so what type. I know I don't want bare bottom. I really like the look of white sugar sand like Southdown. What are the pro and cons of shallow sand bed (1") versus deep sand bed (4")? If any one has good article please point me in the right direction.

It makes sense to me, to change the sand bed when I move it but is there any danger in this? I have a large amount of seasoned LR in the tank (approx 100-120 lbs) and a low fish count (3) so I think the biological filter will be fine.

Any ideas, suggestions, or opinions are welcomed.

[Reptoreef]

IMO, as long as you get all of the rest of the LR coral n critters removed(along with all water you're gonna reuse), then you should be safe. As far as your sand bed, you should be good either way. Pros and cons seems more opinion than too much fact related.I like the DSB for the ability of having those critters that depend on the DSB(gobies, jawfish, etc). Reguardless, you have alot of LR for denitrification and if you do decide on a DSB in the future... you have a refugium. BTW, IMO trash or donate that seeded existing sand bed to your local reef club or trade some with other local reefers. Good luck.

Repto

[Reef_Angel]

Wow...what an undertaking! Dave and I have thought of this if we decide to make the move to Texas in a year or more what we'd have to go through to move all our tanks. It's worth it though. They would just ride in the Durango with me, big sign in the back window "Reef On Board", and at feeding time I could stop and hand feed them McDonald's Burgers on our way through the drive thru! lol Sorry Whoyah... that wasn't very helpful was it? *giggle*

[Whoyah]

The move is only 10 miles (in town to the country) so I don't think we will be stopping at McDonalds to feed the fish. :D


IMO trash or donate that seeded existing sand bed to your local reef club or trade some with other local reefers

Why? I was thinking about using some of the current sand to seed the new stuff but I can skip this if you think it is wise.

If I went all new, do you think I should get some different live sand to mix with the new clean sand or just go with clean sand and let the LR populate it.

[jerryc]

You can just save 2 or 3 cups of your sand and put in one corner to populate
the new sand. If you don't wont it you can remove it later.

[Reptoreef]

Yep... I assumed you wanted the finer sand and wanted to rid the crushed coral... seed as Toad mentioned and donate the rest or use some more... it's your choice. All youn really want from it is to start the bacterial cultures in the new sandbed.

[Whoyah]

Thanks for the follow up. Now I just need to find a few bags of Southdown some where. :-? I was thinking, it would be worth it to put some sand in a media bag and drop it in the fuge for a couple weeks before I move. That way I have a some seasoned sand.

[Reptoreef]

Sound innovative... that's a great idea!!!