Cleaning tank prior to moving

[Draco]

In a week or so, I am going to be moving my 9 gal nano over to the new place at 30 mins away.

I got some buckets and I am prepared to break down, pack and move everything.

I admit, I kind of let my tank go in the past month while I concentrated on preparing for the over-all move. whoops.

Anyways, some questions, please!

• I want to scrub some algae off my rocks (bubble and hair algae) before packing. What's the best way to do this, without killing anything beneficial? Regular clean tooth brush and scrub away?

• How long can the rocks stay out of the water without anything dying? I am planning to put it in clean salt water in the buckets- but if its easier/OK to just cover them with wet towel, I'd do that to make things lighter for me.

• It's safe for me to dump all old sand and replenish with fresh new aragonite sand? I want to make the bed deeper this time.

• Half old and half new water OK, or aim for mostly clean/new? I don't want to hit a new cycle and destroy what I have left.

please and thank you!

 

[DaveK]

When you move a small tank a short distance, you shouldn't have many problems.

Your plan is basically sound.

Either clean off the rocks now or do them a couple of weeks after the move. You don't wish to disturb the good bacteria and other stuff on them.

Rock that don't have corals on them can stay out many hours, as long as they stay cool and wet, but the longer they are out, the greater the chance of having some die off from them. You want to make the move as fast as possible and devote the day to moving the tank.

Actually, replacing the old sandbed with new aragonite sand is the preferred way of doing it. Keep a handful of old sand to seed the new sand bed. Trying to use an old sandbed is not a good idea because when you move it, you stir up a lot of stuff you do not want in the water.

Use as much old water as possible. Just use new water to top it off. Once the tank is reestablished you can do water changes.

 

[Draco]

Thank you!!

 

[Creekview]

• How long can the rocks stay out of the water without anything dying? I am planning to put it in clean salt water in the buckets- but if its easier/OK to just cover them with wet towel, I'd do that to make things lighter for me.

I always use wet newspaper. All of the vendors I've purchased uncured ocean cultured rock wrap in wet newspaper. These rocks have all kinds of stuff growing on them, and there is very little die off after 24 hours. Even the invert hitchhikers make the trip. A regular terry towel may snag on the nooks n crannies.

 

[Snid]

Not sure if this is a better idea or not, but why not combine the methods for optimum safe travel and recovery? Wrap the LR and then put them in 5 gallon paint buckets with lids that you can get from hardware stores? Have them filled with water as well as being wrapped. This might seem excessive for larger tanks, but for a 9 gallon tank move, you are only talking about 2 buckets probably. And those buckets always come in handy for many things besides painting and aquariums. This would probably prevent any die off what-so-ever and prevent you from feeling rushed during the process.