Best way to move to bigger tank? (65g to 125g)

I have a 65g that we are upgrading to a 125. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get from point A to point B with the least amount of destruction? lol

I have 2 baby clowns, a small yellow tang, a pistol and goby, a bunch of lps pieces, 1 sps, live rock and live sand and probably about 25 inverts .

I'd like to use the rock, sand, and water in the new tank, but what should I do about adding additional amounts of these things? Use dead rock / dead sand ? Or should I try to find some cured live rock (I got lucky the first time around with the lfs having it for my 65 and avoided much of a cycle at all).

And then for the water should I just move as much over as possible (65g + 20 g sump = barely half of what the new tank will hold) then do I just top off with some pre-mixed saltwater?

And lastly, what is the best order to move it all out and over? I am thinking corals out into a bucket of the 65g water, fish out into another bucket of 65g water (or can fish and corals go into same?) , live rock moved to new tank, water moved, sand moved?

I know it's a long post and a lot of questions but I would really appreciate anyone's advice !! Excited to get the 125 up and running ;D

 

Well you are going to experience a cycle on the new tank.I am assuming the new tank is going in the same place as the old one.(If not it would be much easier.)I would remove rocks,corals,fish. You can keep them all together if you want to.Don't forget to add a heater,some kind of filter or powerhead, and lighting.Once everything is transferred remove the old tank and replace with the new one.I would not reuse the sand and using the old water in your new tank will be of little to no benefit.(the bacteria you need live on surfaces not in the water colomn.) Add fresh rodi water to the new tank,(leave room for sand,salt, and LR it will displace some water)mix your salt to the correct salinity. If using dry sand this can be added first but if you are using live sand add after water and salt. If using premixed SW then you can add the sand first.Take as many pieces of your existing LR and place it in the new tank. Allow everything to settle for a day or two then add a piece of table shrimp or fishfood into the tank. The ammount of time this new tank will take to cycle is dependant on the ammount of seeded LR you add and adding Live Sand would be to your benefit to achieve a shorter cycle time. Test water until you have gotten rid of ammonia and Nitrite then add fish slowly maybe one or two at a time.Then corals and remaining LR. Good luck!!

 

It is actually not going in the same place, so how should I change up the instructions for that? Take as much live rock out of my current tank now and put it in the new tank to cycle for however long it takes? and then just move everything over?

 

You can do this without expirencing a cycle and without casualties if careful. First off do not use the sand. Buy brand new live sand for the new tank. Disturbing the sand bed in the old tank will only cause problems. There are ways around this but negate the very direction your looking at going i.e. cycleless transfer. Use all new water! There is no benifit in using the old. The good bacteria your more than likely thinking will benifit is not free floating but rather in the sand and rock. The fact that you are putting the new tank in a different place is a bonus.
Here is a quick bullet point walk through of the process you should take.
Mix all the saltwater needed for the new tank
Bring the temo up to the other tank
Remove the rock with out coral and place in new tank
add new cured or uncured rock. You old rock will cure it up quick.
add new sand
add water
Match parameters i.e. salinity, ph, temp, alk and cal
Add fish and coral

 

Vinny gave you great advice. If you can leave the old tank up while cycling the new one then that would be great. What I would do to make the cycle go a lot faster is to add some of the LR from your old tank to the new one once you have your sand in place. I would let the "storm" die down first so you aren't clogging the LR with sand and then add the LR and let it cycle. That would be the preferred method of course.

When I moved from my 16 gallon to my 40 gallon I just moved everything over at once with no problems. I let the "storm" die down before putting anything into my tank of course. Good Luck to you.

 

Thats great will be much less stressful for you and your fish and corals.Add your sand to the new tank, add premixed SW,Allow everything to settle for a day (run filters to clear water) then add some of your LR.(YOU COULD DO THIS IN THE SAME DAY BUT BETTER TO BE SAFE THEN SORRY Plus it will be easier to place the LR if you can see what you are doing) Add a piece of shrimp or fish food and allow the tank to cycle.When its done you can start by adding a few fish at a time. Remember to go slow never add a bunch of fish or inverts all at once. I would wait until you have all the fish transferred over then keep an eye on your parameters for a week or so before finally adding the rest of your LR and corals.Good luck and take some pictures for us. Go slow let it grow!!!!!;D;D8)

 

+1. It is always better to be really patient then to go fast and risk another cycle. ;D This is really hard for me lol. I'm a very impatient person by nature.