Moving my FOWLR tank...

[bobthehobo9]

Hey everyone, I'm new to posting on this forum but I am on here all the time reading what everyone posts and I have to say that I have learned a lot from you guys!
First off:
I'm a senior in high school and I have a 10 gallon fowlr tank set up in my marine science class. The problem is that winter break starts this week and no one will be at school to care for the tank or its inhabitant. This means that I have to bring it home with me for the two weeks or so that we are off. The drive is only 20 minutes at most so the distance really isnt a big deal; and there is only a coral banded shrimp (banded coral shrimp... whatever) living in the tank along with some live rock.

I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to successfully pull the move off.

Also, while I'm doing all this work on the tank, I figured it would be a good time to add a bit more sand (love those DSB's!) so... I'm wondering if, once I get everything setup at home and the live rock and Hugo (the shrimp) back in his house, can I add more sand to the tank with him in the tank? Or would it be more advisable to remove him, add the sand, and then add him back into the tank once everything has settled down and the water has cleared?

Thanks,
Erik

[jenajet]

Welcome to TRT! In my opinion, bag the livestock like they do at the lfs, put rock in bins with a little water and newspaper to keep wet, and use a 5 gallon water contaner or two to move as much water as possible. Moving tank means moving sand and that could release toxins so I personally would replace all of the sand, but that's just me. You can keep a little of the old sand to jump start the new. The reason I say keep as much water as you can is to minimize a cycle after the move. I would remove the water you plan to keep first, then use the rest of the water to rinse the rock before moving it to a bin. Using water jugs with lids will keep the water in the container and not in your floorboard. My car still smells like saltwater!

[bobthehobo9]

I'm going to have to do all of this over again after the break when I take the tank back to school (looking forward to that ). Will all of this moving and substrate changing have a negative effect? The moves will be about a month apart from one another.

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT!It can have good and bad just try and keep the rock from moving.

[bobthehobo9]

ok, so if I dump most of the sand (really don't want to but if I have to then o well) how much should I keep in order to seed the new sand(I want to put about 20lbs of new sand in the tank)? Also, will this cause a cycle, and if so is it ok to keep my shrimp in the tank (don't have anywhere else to put him)?
Another question (a lot of questions, I know, but bear with me)... will I have to dump the sand again when I move it back to school due to a new buildup of the aforementioned toxins or will I be ok with leaving it in the tank?


right now I have:
10lbs live rock
~10lbs sand
1 banded coral shrimp
HOB filter
Koralia 1 powerhead