Kay sweet It should be up in running next week then :) thanks

My logic on the sand - unless you've gone out of your way to get 'real' live sand as a seed source, there isn't going to be any life in your sand that isn't also in the rocks you're moving. Life that will be pulverized and smashed to bits by the act of removing and washing it. I'd just start fresh, but that doesn't mean anything bad will necessarily happen if you don't.

Very true but not everyone likes to by new sand so it is an option to clean it.

If it were me, I'd use almost all new water in the new tank and use the old one as a rinse for the rock as it comes out. Really swish it around to loosen any crud built up. The whole keep it wet pretty much means don't let it dry out for a couple hours. Don't be afraid to stack it in a bucket for 20 minutes while you figure which piece is going where.

ah very true, hadn't thought about it like that. I've still got 120 pounds of the the stuff taking up space in my garage from when I first set up my tank that I literally couldn't give away back when I first tried, so I keep forgetting that it actually does cost money at some point.

Posting as someone who just did a big switch over (2' non-RR cube & RSM 130 to a 2' RR cube, 93g RR 30" cube & 2'x2'x1' sump), this what I did:

Premixed 2 barrels of sw.
Placed two smaller tanks (20g & 25g) on the floor near my tanks.
Siphoned old tank water into the two holding tanks.
Shifted corals, live rock and fish (in that order) from existing tanks into holding tanks.
Plugged in heaters and MJ1200 powerheads for flow.
Completely drained both tanks.
Scooped out sand into buckets for washing.
Shifted out old tanks & RSM stand.
Moved into place new tanks & new 30" stand.
Plumbed tanks together and glued/siliconed piping in place.
Hooked up new return pump (Jebao DC6000)
Tested water tightness by adding water down the overflows.
Filled sump and turned on return pump to test those pipes.
Retightened one fitting.
Checked temp and parameters of mixed saltwater in barrels and started pumping into sump, using return pump to add water into display cubes.
Filled up displays three quarters of the way, emptying barrels.
Refill one barrel, add salt, PRIME, pump and heater for final top-up.
Thoroughly washed old sand with hose outside at 3-4 in the morning (don't recommend this timetable, but I'm OCD and can't stop once started).
Slowly add clean sand into both tanks.
Unplugged heaters and MJ1200s.
Carefully shift live rock from holding tanks into display tanks.
Aquascape till happy.
Shift corals into new tanks.
Catch out fish and add to tanks.
Leave skimmer off for 2 days (in case it goes nuts).
Finally go to sleep at 10:30am the next day after spending a few hours double checking everything.
Recheck everything when I wake up a few hours later.
Recheck everything constantly for first few days.

Lost ZERO fish.
Lost a couple of sps frags & one small sps colony.
Everything else (knock on wood) has come through the transfer in great shape.


I went from roughly 94g total tanks volume to 183g total water volume.

Lots of work but well worth it. I laid out those foam interlocking pads used for padding kids' playrooms all around the tanks that helped keep the place dry and gave us a more comfortable surface to lie on when doing the plumbing.
Have lots of spare towels around cause no matter how careful you are, some water will hit the floor.

Good luck. I know it would have been easier to do the switch over a couple of days but I'd rather get the job done in one go, than to prolong the process.

Anthony


BTW, I have used washed "old" sand for years without any issue. As long as you know the sand has never been treated with copper, meds. then I have found it safe to reuse.