I am purchasing a 225 gallon salt water aquarium. It is full of salt water right now. It comes with 250 pounds of live rock and 150 pounds of live sand. The drive is going to be about 9 hours long. The guy I am buying it from said he will drain the water out when I start driving to pick up the tank. How long can live rock and live sand survive with no salt water in the tank?
2007-06-17 16:39:24 · 5 answers · asked by chris a 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
The bacteria won't be alive unless it's kept in water.
Your best bet it to have the owner wait till about 1/2 hour before you get there to start draining the tank and to only take out the water till it's 2" deep over the sand. If he's got an air pump or powerhead he can keep running till you get there, that would be even better. If you're getting a filter with the tank, the media should also be placed in the tank so it stary aerated and wet.
When you get there, put the sand into large containers - old picnic cooler, plastic garbage cans, etc. with enough water to cover the sand. Use separate containers for the live rock - if you pack sand around it, there's a good chance you'll lose a lot of organisms that may be living on the surface. Flatter, rather than taller containers would be best, because the sand will spread out so there's more surface area to be exposed to the water at the top. Vibration from driving will help keep the water oxygenated.
When you get home, get the tank set up and the substrate, rock, and media back into it as soon as possible and start aeration in the tank (it would be a good idea to have some saltwater mixed up to the proper concentration and temperature before you leave - use tubs, 5 gallon buckets, etc. for storage).
You'll probably still lose some bacteria at the bottom of the containers, but if you do as much as you can to spread out the material and keep moving, you should be able to keep the loss to a minimum. Stock the tank slowly to give the bacteria time to recover completely.
Sounds like a nice tank to find - good luck with it!
2007-06-17 17:07:05 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the rock should be ok for that time, go to a store and get a box of bsg, well for a 225 maybe buy a whole box!! or use several large totes and transfer the whole tank in those, if space allows, 2-4 55g totes woulkd be great. if the water is all draind you might have a cycle after setting it all back up, so be prepared for lots of water changes, the corals or fish can be placed in coolers (for fishing or camping), a few battery operated airstones or an inverter and a few powerheads would work as well. im sure others can give advive too
ps. the rock and sand isn't "alive" it is full of nitrifying bacteria. coralline alage, and tons of other little critters form mini stars, worms, and all kinds of life, hence the name "live rock"
2007-06-18 01:14:01 · answer #2 · answered by michael_j_p_42503 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cover the rock with damp newspaper,plastic bags will block the Oxygen. The sand should also stay damp.Also it would be a mistake to leave that much weight in the tank during the move. You risk arriving at the new location with a leaky box.The rock and sand should be in shipping containers like it's received in at pet shops. If you can keep the rock and sand damp it should survive at least 24 hours. Talk to some-one who ships or receives a lot of marine life,you can probably get what you need from them.----Good luck.----PeeTee
2007-06-18 00:46:14 · answer #3 · answered by PeeTee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, when you look at most fish stores, the live rock and live sand are in plastic baggies for a long time, so I'd assume that they can survive 9 hours if they can survive weeks in a plastic bag.
~ZTM
2007-06-17 23:44:41 · answer #4 · answered by ZooTycoonMaster 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
just a quick question here: how can a sand and a rock be alive?
2007-06-17 23:43:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋