Buying used tank and have a few questions

[Hyde7278]

Hi new to the site and saltwater aquariums and have a few questions.

I'm purchasing a biocube 29 with 20+ lbs of live rock and 20lbs of live sand with coral and 2 clown fish.

the tank is up and running so have to take it down and move it and reset it up so have these questions

1) can I use the 5 gallon buckets from HD or lowes to keep the water in for the move?


2) should I fully drain the tank into the buckets or drain 1/2 the water into buckets and leave the rest in the tank with the sand and rock and coral?


3) or should I transport the rock and coral in buckets with water?


4) what ever I transport the rock and coral in should I put the heater in it and run it with a inverter (my trip will be about 2+ hrs) also should I run a air pump and bubble stone also for the coral and fish?


5) when I get it set up should I use all the water that I took out of the tank or should I do a partial water change? ( want to stress the fish and coral the least)

6) is the anything I'm forgetting or missed?

Thanks in advance Sean

[SnoopyDaPimp]

1: Yes, just rinse out first

2: Keep some of the water and you can ditch the rest. You want to keep the coral submerged and the rock as wet as possible.

3: That would be ideal if you can do it

4: Do not worry about the temp if it is short term. The coral should be okay in the little bit of time that you are talking about.

5: Keep some of the water and get new sand.

Make sure you have SW mixed and ready to put in at home once everything is set up.

[AK707]

you could use big plastic storage bins also

[Hyde7278]

1: Yes, just rinse out first

2: Keep some of the water and you can ditch the rest. You want to keep the coral submerged and the rock as wet as possible.

3: That would be ideal if you can do it

4: Do not worry about the temp if it is short term. The coral should be okay in the little bit of time that you are talking about.

5: Keep some of the water and get new sand.

Make sure you have SW mixed and ready to put in at home once everything is set up.


Thank you for the replie.

Why do I want new sand?

[Hyde7278]

you could use big plastic storage bins also

Thanks for the suggestion but if I use 5 gallon buckets it would cut down on the weight of the container I will use a storage bin at home to store RO water in though

[SnoopyDaPimp]

I reused sand once and it was the biggest mistake I made with buying a used tank. I didn't know how he keep everything, etc.... I had problems with algae for a while and then I slowly started replacing the sand about 25% at a time (46g tank). Just get new sand and seed it with the water you save from the previous tank.

[Hyde7278]

Snoopy

Thanks for the feedback. I'll put sand on my list.

[DasCamel]

40g marine coleman cooler works great also.

[ca1ore]

You certainly can use the old sand, though for folks new to the hobby it is probably wise to just replace it. Make sure you wash the new, dry sand very well as it contains a ton of crud. Save a few cups of the old sand to seed the new.

[farfromsea]

I also strongly regret using the old sand in my tank. I am always looking for ways to save money and thought using old sand was a great idea. The ensuing algae problems and general ugliness of the sand bed made me quickly regret it. New is best!


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[Hyde7278]

Got my water buckets and supplies read for tomorrow. Wish me luck on the move. Will post pictures and questions when I get it set up.

Thanks again for the replies

[GoVols]

You certainly can use the old sand, though for folks new to the hobby it is probably wise to just replace it. Make sure you wash the new, dry sand very well as it contains a ton of crud. Save a few cups of the old sand to seed the new.
+1) To all the post.

Use a tiny amount of the old sand to seed the new sand.

I'd go with almost 100% new sand. The old sand will have a lot of waste and detritus built up in it. Causing a algae bloom once disturbed.

Your already breaking it down so get new sand.

[Hyde7278]

If I put in new dry sand with some of the old sand to seed it and the live rock will it have to cycle? As I have coral and fish that have to go back in the tank.

[GoVols]

If you get the live rock in there quickly I don't think it would recycle. If so it would be minimal and quick.

If it were me I'd get it setup quickly and put your fish and corals in ASAP.

Don't have to reef scape the live rock perfectly from the start. Get it running and put your live stock in ASAP. You cam fine tune your rock work at a later date.

Unless you want a ton of fine dust, I'd have your new sand already rinsed before I started the tear down on move.

JMO..

[Hyde7278]

Ended up getting new sand and got the tank set up. It's cloudy but starting to clear up. Will have to set up the live rock and coral when it clears so I can see what I'm doing.

Should I have the pump running while I'm letting it settle? Also how long does it take for the coral to open back up so I'll know if I've had any casualties?

The two clown fish seam good there moving around good and the female went after me when I was moving some things around.

[Hyde7278]

Also how long before I should feed the fish

[farfromsea]

Yeah keep the pump running. Living creatures need the aeration. It will settle. Not experienced enough to say how long it will take your coral to calm down after the sandstorm. My Duncan, for example, is very touchy. Was messing with its base and it refused to come out fully for 4-5 days. I think once the sandstorm clears you can post some pics if you think something is dead and people would be happy to help.

If you have fish in the tank feed them daily...


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