Is this a safe plan of moving my tank ?

[catshanon]

Hi guys,
I will be moving the sand, liverock and livestock from my current 65G tank to a 56G tank to our new home across the town. Here are the specs on both the current and the future system and my plan for moving them. Please let me know if this is a safe plan and/or how should I do things differently.

Current System:
-65G tank, no sump, have been running for more than 2 years
-Deep sand bed (3")
-3 loose rocks, and one rock structure that is glued together.
-The loose rocks account for 25% of the total live rock whereas the rock structure accounts for the remaining 75%
-very few lps corals, some are on loose rocks and some are attached to the rock structure
-2 clowns, 2 cardinals, 1 damsel, 1 regal tang
-snails and 1 hermit crab

Future System:
-56G tank
-20G sump with magdrive 5

We will be moving to a house from a condo, and we will space out the move over 2 weeks in January. So my plan is:

- Setup the new (56G) tank and let the mag 5 run for a couple of days to test for leaks and plumbing
- If all plumbing looks good, then scoop out 3/4th of the sand from the existing tank and put it in the new tank.
-Add the loose rocks from the existing tank to the new one.

I am worried that this will disturb the sand bed, as I will still have all my corals and fish in the existing tank.

- Let the new tank run for a couple of days and then transfer some of the loose corals and the clowns to the new tank.

- After a few more days, move the remaining rock structure and the rest of the livestock.

- Add the remaining 1/4th sand to the new tank.

I am not reseeding any base rock and all the rock and sand will be live, so I don't see any problems with this plan. Stirring up the DSB is the only issue that I am seeing.

Looking forward to the views of more experienced reefers..

Thanks,
Raj

[FitoPharmer]

You should be fine. I move my tanks all at once, but this way your adding an extra level of safety.
To help you with the sand I suggest you siphon it out of the tank with a 1/2" hose or something. If there are no large chunks its vacuums out very easily. When I siphon out any sand I always give it the smell test and the partical test. If the sand either smells really strong unlike the LR, or smells eggy at all I will discard it and use new sand. Also if the sand contains large amounts of detritus particles I will wash it in saltwater from the same tank, or discard and replace it if there is too much to rinse out.
I find large strong bags like ziplock freezer bags work wonders for adding sand back into your tank with little sand storm as possible.

Also the regal tang likely will not do well long term in a 56 Gallon tank.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+43+330&pcatid=330

[The Grizz]

Dont let the rock dry out at all, rinse both rock & sand before you put it back into the new tank. Do a water change on the old system & save the old water for the new system to start.

[catshanon]

Thanks to FitoPharmer and Grizz for your advice. and yes, the regal tang needs a bigger home. Now that I am in a bigger home, I will try to setup a bigger tank in the future.