Transfering sand to new set up

Ok here it goes the flood of questions regarding the transfer of the contents of my 125 to the new 120 with Mega Overflows starts today. Todays question is in reference to the sand. I have heard that when I transfer the sand that it will release all sorts of nasty compounds in to the water? About the only alternative I can see is to purchase new sand for the new tank. That also has its draw backs, if I put new sand in the new set up I will loose some of my biological filtration and stress the livestock. Any thoughts on what would be the best way to go would be appreciated.
I am adding a wet / dry with bioballs along with a bigger skimmer to the new set up.

 

What kind of corals if any are you transfering? Are there fish in the new tank yet?

I would do small amounts of your original sand at a time. Probably divide it by 8 or 10 and add it every couple of days. If you dont have any livestock you could add it quicker.

I like the idea of a big skimmer the bigger the better or the better quality the better.
I do not care for bio balls though. I think you will find less and less reef tnaks using them.

 

I did an upgrade from a 75g to a 90g last week. I was going to just bring my sand over in "pie" shaped wedges to adhere to the original form. It did not work out. I ended up just dumping it into two 5 gallon buckets and putting it back into the tank......mixing it up. I ended up with a mini-cycle. My ammonia spiked to 0.35. That's about it. Nothing died secondary to the transfer. The tank was four months old.

 

go barebottom with some polyboard. i spent 400 dollars on live rock to filter my water so i am going to use it lol.

 

My tank is 6 yrs old, I am also concerned with there not being any "food" for my gobie to eat if I use new sand.
I dont even have the tank yet, it will be here on Fri afternoon;D I just want to educate myself as to the best way to go about the whole move. My corals are mostly mushrooms and leather. I do have bubble and an open brain.

 

if you really must move your old sand. you should put it in a bucket and swish it around and keep replacing the water tell its swishes clear. people will say it kill stuff in the sand but their is no way i would put old dirty sand in a new tank, and moving the sand would kill most of that stuff anyway. a good part of the pods and stuff should survive

 

Sorry. I cant help a NYY fan

 

You know, just because you dont know the correct answer does not mean you have to be like that.

 

lol I assure you he was kidding around ;P

It's fine to use sand from a previous tank- but do expect to go through a bit of an algae bloom. I moved sand from my 75 to my 90, and because of the circumstances, didn't have time to clean the sand prior to moving it, so IN it went. Never had an ammonia spike at all, but definitely had a cyanobacteria bloom which lasted for 1+ months because of it. The cyano did eventually go away however. Just up your water changes in the weeks follow the transfer, and try and add some phosphate remover of some sort- will help out alot.

 

Thats one way of doing it(I have done it that way before) or as you syphon the water, clean the sand. Just as you would do when doing a WC. This way, you empty out the old tank and you clean out the sand.
The only way that you will have a Nh3/4 or No2 spike is if you dont have enough LR. Luna