Any suggestions on how to move a 55 gallon tank

[Scott2002]

I just got a 140 gallon tank and I currently have a 55 gallon tank that has been established for about 3 years. I am going to move the 55 upstairs to my sons room.

The question I have is this; What would be the best/safest way to move it? I am worried about breaking a seal on the tank.

The 55 has about 110 lbs. of live rock and about a 3 inch layer of live sand. I will take the rock out, but what about the sand? I am not sure I can remove it because of the anarobic bacteria layer. Should I remove as much sand as I can? I would like to take some of the sand out and use it in the 140.

Another question; If I move some of the sand (about 2 inches of it) over to the 140, do I have to be concerned about anarobic bacteria affecting the fish in that tank?

Thanks for your help

Scott

[OrionGirl]

You will want to completely empty the tank. Small tanks (less then 20 gallons) should never be moved with anything in them--the risk of the tank twisting is just too great. For the sand--I'd take a baggie for each tank, and then put in new sand when you set it up. It's unlikely that the sand would remain layered well enough to preserve the bacteria, so they will have to grow back after the transfer. The aerobic bacteria are easy to transfer around, the anaerobes are not. I've moved tanks several times, and getting some good 'starter' colonies from the sand works well. You can also sort of filter through the upper layers to get many of the beneficial organisms (ie, worms, snails, stars and such).