If the tank is Glass, it would be a death wish to move it with anything at all still in the tank. It would even be taxing on acrylic if you tried to move it with 400+ of sand (thats dry weight!).
I wouldnt move either with sand in it.
I dont think you would have to buy new sand, simply wash part of what you have.
I would remove all the sand and rinse it with saltwater, if you can remove all the sulfer dioxide (or whatever it is) then you wont have as big of an issue, you will have an ammonia spike from all the buried dying critters though.
I would just keep like 5 gallons of the sand and rinse the rest out really well in freshwater, unti it runs clean. Put that sand back in and reseed it with the live stuff...
I dont think he had them in there a year,, sounds like the story is a year old!?
they were between his eye and ear,, no way they where there for a year...
Still major darwin factor going on here though, they should have handed him a crow bar and let him deal with it himself.
Jordan, Id go so far as to say not "slots" but rather huge holes might be more suitable.
http://richpoorman.com/aquaria/diy/images/stockman1.jpg
http://richpoorman.com/aquaria/diy/standpipe.htm
all you need to be able to do is have enough material to have enough stregth to be able to push the reducer down, if you do it carefully, you would probably only need like 1/4 of pipe as strips on each side, kind of like what is shown.
Too cluttered,,, its a step back IMO, I like clean sites. Thats why I still use TRT alot, its nice and clean, not 5000 links all over the margins.
Obviously too each his own, some like clutter with options, others like it clean.
SeaStar aquariums out of canada, 3 year warrantee, built like it it wouldnt break if it tipped over....
Jordan, I drilled a tank yesterday, no problem at all,,, we will be all set.
I doubt at this point anyone knows the price, Carla at PFO swore she didnt even know yet, only Pat.
Maybe she is a good lier, but I dont think anyone knows at this point how much it will cost.
Well,, PFO has a new light that is being released at IMAC, its an LED fixture that can be run from 6.5k to 20k. Not only that but you can program the output to change throughout the day. want 20k in the am then to a crisp 10k at the days peak? Want to have clouds move across the tank as you view it? All this is available. LED bulbs are expected to last 5 years so no more replacing halides VHO's and T5s on a regular bases.
Available from 12 inches to 6 feet.
The output is being compared to a 250wHQI.
Unit runs on 24v DC power, so no more big power hogs either.
Price to be released in the next day or two at IMAC. Ill let you know when I have an idea of what they will run.