Moving a tank to a new home

Yeah that was my concern, but would doing a mix of gravel and sand defeat the purpose of a deep sand bed? I thought oxygen levels reach are higher with gravel and therefore there is no anaerobic bacteria in the substrate. I guess I could do like a part of the tank as Gravel and the other side sand, and slowly switch over to sand.

 

I am a believer that no matter how you do it your going to have a cycle. Just switched my tank over a couple weeks ago and tried the same method you have in mind. Hoping to "minimize" the cycle. Still happens. I have not lost anything as of yet and I have a number of corals as well. It may be a much smaller cycle but it will still go through one. I myself did not use the old sandbed for the fact that when you move it all kinds of nasties get stirred up and would most likely cause more problems. I used dry sand and rinsed it like crazy and then seeded with a couple cups of old sand. I have a thread under" show off your tanks" Upgrade complete,that takes you through how we did it. Pretty much exactly what your planning.

 

Thanks Ishy, I'll check out your thread. If its going to cycle at all, I may keep some of my inverts and fish out of the tank for a week if possible. At least in a smaller tank, I can do enough water changes to keep the fish healthy.

 

Good thought. I myself didn't really have that option. Didn't want to put all 6 fish in a ten gallon, my tang would have probably croaked. He is rather large5-6 inches. Everything is still doing well though if that eases your mind. I am just dealing with the nasty brown stuff right now. 3 weeks today.