Tip of the Day – 12/9/2013

Here’s a quick tip for those hobbyists breaking down an aquarium. After removing the fish, corals, and rocks from your tank, obviously what’s left is the sand and water. The best course of action is to remove the sand first as it can easily and quickly be siphoned into a bucket. Just put a 1/4″ vinyl tube down into the sand and let the siphon action do all of the work for you. At some point, you may have run out of water, at which time we recommend adding water to the tank to start the siphon up once again. Keep doing this until all of the sand has been removed from the system, then just drain the remaining water and you’re tank will be good to go. If you are shutting down the tank for good, tap water should be fine to get that last bit of sand out. If you are setting it back up, or giving the live sand to a fellow hobbyist, it’s best to use saltwater obviously. You might have to make a fresh batch of water just for the sand removal, otherwise you can try to use the water that was already in the tank.