I moved and everything died i need help now

My most successful move, I have done quite a few, was moving a bare bottom reef tank. Lost a couple of SPS but everything else came through with flying colors. Not bad for a two hour drive.

 

FWIW, we once moved 14 tanks, all with substrate, and lost nothing. As Coralline mentioned, it's all about how much the substrate was disturbed.

Also, unless you have a compelling reason to have a 3" sandbed (such as for a burrowing fish), that's kinda "no man's land"...it's not deep enuff for a DSB, too deep for a SSB, but is deep enuff to cause trouble if it's stirred. Cut back to 1"-2" unless you need it.

As for reuse, again, as mentioned, just rinse the heck out of it until the water runs clear, and re-use it. We do this all the time.

HTH

 

I remember getting advice from someone telling me sand has a life span. Another words it cant be used forever because eventually the minerals are diminished and that if the tank is established to replace with new sand the first opportunity that arisses. such as with a move or change over to a new tank. Is there any truth to that? or is sand always able to be reused as long as those certain guidelines you and others mentioned are followed?

 

I have done it many times before and I would pull everything out of the tank, but the sand bed I would leave totally alone and move the tank with the sand in the tank just as it was and never had that kind of problems.

 

i see no other explanation than the sand bed being disturbed (unless the movers had something to do with it) , sorry for the losses. i agree with you in letting the cycle start over if you have zero live stock left.