moving tank problem
 

I recently moved to a apartment and i tried my best to keep my sand from moving but it didnt turn out that way:mad2:. It just sloshed everywhere, so i assume its no good. Currently i have my live rock, livestock in rubbermaids with a heater, pump and my light. so I have a few questions.

can they survive in there for a couple of days

does my mandarin need the sand to live.

yep, with water movement, stable temp and light your livestock should be ok.

your mandarin shouldnt need sand to live, i mean, how many LFS's do you see with sand in each of their holding tanks?

I moved my tank a month or so back from a smaller to larger tank and shoveled out all my sand and didnt kill anything. I know the general rule is not to mess with the bed because of spikes, however it didnt affect my tank. just food for thought

Yes they can.

If your mandarin is healthy then no you will be fine until you get the tank back together. You might have to purchase live pods to boost the population once it is all said and done.

How deep is the original sand bed? Did you have algae issues? Your sand is probably fine but I always try to use new sand. Its cheap.

mandarins don't need sand for survival.. They need pods and those are more typicall found in rock etc.. As for the fish in the rubbermaids, they will be fine. People use rubbermaids for qt tanks for several weeks. I believe your sand is still good. I just wouldnt add any fish or coral to it yet. Refill it and let it run for a few days for the gases released from the sand to disipate, Hope this helps

As stated, it's always best to use new sand, but you have to wait 24hrs for it to settle enough. I have transferred a tank with dumping new sand in and adding fish 4 hrs later--works fine--just use an airstone and heater for the fish. All live stock should be fine in holding tanks for a couple of days (w/flow and correct temp and a few pieces of LR).
tkeracer619 has good ideas, adding a couple of bottles of Tiger-Pods is what I would do after transfer. I'm currently culturing Tiger pods in a 10g w/ great success--I feed the Mandy tank every 2-3 weeks w/ free live pods.

I'll be heading to the LFS to buy new sand and pods later.