Questions about moving tank ?

I'm moving next weekend. Only going from one end of my apartment complex to the other but tank still has to be emptied. What's the best way to do this with minimal stress to my animals ? I have a bunch of 5 gallon buckets and tubs. My plan was to drain the water into these buckets and have a little rock and coral in each bucket. Probably have the fish all in same bucket. Do I reuse my sand or should I get all new sand. Thinking about going all black sand anyway. I have a mix of white and black at the moment. Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

Your plan sounds fine.I never reuse the sand.

 

+1^^^ agree with Vinny. You don't want to reuse your sand - get new.

 

New it is then !! Lol. Thanks.

 

I would think it wouldn't be best to put all the fish in one bucket. I would probably put one to a bucket if you use enough buckets for that.

 

Yeah you may be right. 7 fish in a 5 gallon bucket may be a bit much and could add stress.

 

One other question. I got my new sand. It's the Carib Sea live sand. Should I put it straight in the tank or rinse it ? Want to make sure it stays live. Trying to avoid a cycle.

 

Don't rinse it and be sure you add sw only.Adding fw will kill the sand.

 

If you rinse it in anything other than SW than buying live sand is a waste of money.

You can reduce cloudiness by using large bore PVC pipe and using it as a funnel to introduce the sand to the tank if you already have water in the tank. Or without water, pour the water into a flat surface and not directly into the sand, a plate works well for this. Run some floss or foam in the tank to help remove small particles.

Good luck with the move.

 

Thanks for the tips. Should be my last question but should I reuse as much of my old SW as possible or use fresh SW ?