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Shiftster
04/15/2015, 01:10 AM
Ok,

So I have been resetting up my tank and now I'm going to move. I want to do several improvements to my set up in its new home and it may take several months. I only have 2 fish and 2 corals, do to previous lack of time, so I can give them away to a good home.
The question I have is what should I do to store the sand and rock while I work on the tank? And what percentage of rock and sand should I keep? I am assuming that I wont need all of it sense I will need to reseed it after it sits for so long.

MaccaPopEye
04/15/2015, 05:42 AM
I have never done it before since I am new to the hobby but if I had to move I would keep as much of the LR as possible. Keep it in a large container with salt water and a running power head (like one of those brute trash cans that I cant seem to find where I live) and just do a water change every week or two. That way when you're ready to start up again the rock is all cycled and ready to go!

From what I have read don't want to keep any of the sand.

Cheers,

Macca

kmbyrnes
04/15/2015, 05:59 AM
Ditch the sand.
If its going to be a couple of months, let the rock dry out then clean it.
Get a few small pieces of LR from the LFS to reseed your tank when you get it running gain.
One advantage to this is it lets you do your aquascape 'dry' and then transfer to the DT .

addictedreefer
04/15/2015, 08:29 AM
Ditch the sand.
If its going to be a couple of months, let the rock dry out then clean it.
Get a few small pieces of LR from the LFS to reseed your tank when you get it running gain.
One advantage to this is it lets you do your aquascape 'dry' and then transfer to the DT .

Why in the world would you recommend that OP kill off perfectly good live rock? Such an approach would set back his new setup at least a month for the cycle and if he has a mature tank already, it will take over 6 months to get back the volume and diversity of beneficial organisms on the existing rock.

Just throw the rock into a Rubbermaid or garbage can with clean saltwater and a powerhead, cover, and let sit until you need it. Then you will be all set to go once you are ready to start the new tank. Wouldn't hurt to thoroughly rinse off any detritus with clean saltwater before adding to the storage bin. Toss the sand.

cleverbs
04/15/2015, 08:38 AM
why in the world would you recommend that op kill off perfectly good live rock? Such an approach would set back his new setup at least a month for the cycle and if he has a mature tank already, it will take over 6 months to get back the volume and diversity of beneficial organisms on the existing rock.

Just throw the rock into a rubbermaid or garbage can with clean saltwater and a powerhead, cover, and let sit until you need it. Then you will be all set to go once you are ready to start the new tank. Wouldn't hurt to thoroughly rinse off any detritus with clean saltwater before adding to the storage bin. Toss the sand.

+100000

ShannyG
04/15/2015, 08:44 AM
Live rock is pretty darn precious (I pay $10/lb) to just waste like that. And think of all the cool bonus critters you would lose. Almost everyone has room somewhere for a garbage can full of saltwater, amIright?

kabe87
04/15/2015, 08:54 AM
I would do that but without changing water (just add cuz of evaporation)

addictedreefer
04/15/2015, 09:02 AM
I would do that but without changing water (just add cuz of evaporation)

No need to change water. IF you put on a loosely fitting lid, evap will be minimal.

kukulkan67
04/15/2015, 09:13 AM
+10000000, Do not let the rock dry out also keep it moist when you move and then attempt to cycled again , you will have phosphate problems.

BrandonFlorida
04/15/2015, 09:23 AM
Live rock will become live rock again. I shut down my tank for a move and took a little less than a year to get back up and running, and im not rushing anything. If you can keep it live then go for it, but why rush a cycle when nothing good in this hobby happens fast? Id clean the rock really good and not worry about lugging around a bunch of rock with water when you can clearly restart it, just not as fast as most people want. Take your time!

addictedreefer
04/15/2015, 09:32 AM
Live rock will become live rock again. I shut down my tank for a move and took a little less than a year to get back up and running, and im not rushing anything. If you can keep it live then go for it, but why rush a cycle when nothing good in this hobby happens fast? Id clean the rock really good and not worry about lugging around a bunch of rock with water when you can clearly restart it, just not as fast as most people want. Take your time!

The "nothing happens fast in this hobby" cliché is really not appropriate here. If OP keeps the rock moist (does not need to be submerged in water by any means) during transport and does something as easy has storing it in a bin with a powerhead in the basement or a closet, it will pay HUGE dividends for his new setup. He will essentially have a fully cycled and mature tank instantly. Though dead rock may cycle and be fish safe within a month or so, it will take many more months for the tank to achieve the maturity and related stability associated with the well aged rock that you would get if the rock was kept alive the entire time. Given the minimal additional burden -- which really boils down to adding saltwater and a powerhead to the storage bin you would need to store the rock anyway (dead or alive) -- I cannot fathom why you would elect to do otherwise.

BrandonFlorida
04/15/2015, 09:40 AM
The "nothing happens fast in this hobby" cliché is really not appropriate here. If OP keeps the rock moist (does not need to be submerged in water by any means) during transport and does something as easy has storing it in a bin with a powerhead in the basement or a closet, it will pay HUGE dividends for his new setup. He will essentially have a fully cycled and mature tank instantly. Though dead rock may cycle and be fish safe within a month or so, it will take many more months for the tank to achieve the maturity and related stability associated with the well aged rock that you would get if the rock was kept alive the entire time. Given the minimal additional burden -- which really boils down to adding saltwater and a powerhead to the storage bin you would need to store the rock anyway (dead or alive) -- I cannot fathom why you would elect to do otherwise.

I am fully aware of this fact. I knew it would be some time before I was ready and it worked for my situation. My tank will be fine with the patience I have.

addictedreefer
04/15/2015, 09:44 AM
I am fully aware of this fact. I knew it would be some time before I was ready and it worked for my situation. My tank will be fine with the patience I have.

Your choice. But time really isn't an issue. You can keep rock fresh and reef ready for years with the protocol outlined here. And what does that cost? A few square feet of space (which you would need to store the dry rock anyway), <50 gallons of saltwater and the electricity consumption of a single powerhead? To each his own, but my time is far more valuable than that . . . and I would gather the same is likely true for OP.

BrandonFlorida
04/15/2015, 09:47 AM
Your choice. But time really isn't an issue. You can keep rock fresh and reef ready for years with the protocol outlined here. And what does that cost? A few square feet of space (which you would need to store the dry rock anyway), <50 gallons of saltwater and the electricity consumption of a single powerhead? To each his own, but my time is far more valuable than that . . . and I would gather the same is likely true for OP.

:deadhorse1:

tzylak
04/15/2015, 12:01 PM
Hmm, I see reasons for maintaining the LR. Why does everyone opt to ditch sand??
-It does cost
-it does have lots of good bacteria
-IMHO it takes just as much effort to 'maintain' as LR
curious

addictedreefer
04/15/2015, 12:34 PM
Hmm, I see reasons for maintaining the LR. Why does everyone opt to ditch sand??
-It does cost
-it does have lots of good bacteria
-IMHO it takes just as much effort to 'maintain' as LR
curious

At the risk of over simplifying, sand just gets "nasty" and builds certain oxygen poor sections that, when disturbed, can release harmful gasses. Best not to disturb/reuse.

Shiftster
04/17/2015, 04:24 PM
So I would not need to do water changes? That would make the wet storage possible for me.

d2mini
04/17/2015, 05:52 PM
Your choice. But time really isn't an issue. You can keep rock fresh and reef ready for years with the protocol outlined here. And what does that cost? A few square feet of space (which you would need to store the dry rock anyway), <50 gallons of saltwater and the electricity consumption of a single powerhead? To each his own, but my time is far more valuable than that . . . and I would gather the same is likely true for OP.

Agreed.
Zero reason to "waste" the live rock.
Keep the rock live, and then order live sand from TampaBaySaltwater and you will have a very quick minimal cycle in the new tank.

hotelbravo
04/17/2015, 08:17 PM
How long could you store live rock in a garbage bin before you neeeded to do a water change? Considering the idea of tearing down my tank when I deploy to make things easier on the wife.

dymaxiun
04/17/2015, 08:29 PM
Agreed.
Zero reason to "waste" the live rock.
Keep the rock live, and then order live sand from TampaBaySaltwater and you will have a very quick minimal cycle in the new tank.

I agree here as well, and I'm sure many others do yet haven't chimed in. Do what you can to salvage the $, and time spent to establish what you have.

I'd hate to see you have a regret a few months from now.

Shiftster
04/18/2015, 10:09 AM
This new plan brings up a few new question. I have a tone of mushrooms on my rock, I wanted to get rid of them when I dried it. Now that I plan to keep it wet should I
A: scrub it before putting it in the trash can?
Or B: just throw it in the can and let the lack of light do the work?
Either way will I have problems with their deaths causing water issues?

Thanks for the help

dymaxiun
04/18/2015, 10:49 AM
Anything that dies decomposes - decomposition leads to waste - waste leads to bad water. If you don't want to kill based on massive ammonia spike try to remove as many as you can or try to sell the rock the mushrooms are on to another hobbyist.