Is my tank going to cycle and what do you guys recommend

Hello everyone,
First, i may have already posted this in a blog, sorry, its kinda early in the morning, not too long got off work, anyways...............................
I have a 29 gallon tank with a few fish along with a few coral and im wanting to switch out my tank for 2 reasons. One is that the tank i have at the moment is EXTREMELY scratched and i cannot enjoy looking at my fish without getting annoyed. Two is that i just bought a new light fixture which is going to be 6 inches longer than my current tank. I am wanting to go to maybe a 30 gallon or a 38 gallon if i can find one since they both are around 36 inches in length. So down to the main reason for writing all of this. I am wanting to know if just switching everything over will cause the tank to cycle. and i am also thinking about adding a bit more sand to the new tank since it will be a bit longer. The current sand bed is about 2 inches deep and is an established tank. Lots of sponges growing and algea. Any advice. would love to get some good news, but i kinda figure what im already gonna get. Thanks for all of your help in advance.

 

yes the sandbed has various layers of bacterial colonies established. by stirring it up and moving it to the new tank it will more than likely spike a cycle.

im tired, but at first thought id -

* put the new sand into the 30-38gal tank
* get a 30+gal rubbermaid and siphon water out of your tank into this and throw a powerhead in there
* pull livestock and place into the 30gal rubbermaid
* move all existing sand into the 30-38gal
* fill 30-38gal with pre-mixed saltwater
* add in your rock
* wait 24 hours check params on both your temporary livestock tank and the new tank. im guessing there will be some die off when you pull it out of the current established tank so the params might be showing a small cycle. you can keep checking the params until the tanks to 0 on NO2/NO3 (may take more than a day, if so you'll need to do water changes regularly on the rubbermaid container as it has no denitrification ability with no sand/rock/etc)
* slowly acclimate your livestock and give a decent period of time between each fish added and check params when you feel necessary

edit: im new to reefkeeping so im sure someone more experienced than i will chime in. my plan there might not be the best method or even a good method

 

wow, talk about great advice, i am will to take all i can get but thank you so much.

 

I would pretty much follow BJE's advice except I would use new sand and just add a single cup of the old spread over it just to to seed it. That will eliminate the issue of stirring up any nasties in the sandbed.

Ps. I would get a 40gal breeder for the new tank 36L x 18W x 16H

 

The 40 breeder is a great size tank. I also agree with Telgar, just use new sand and dump some of the old sand in there to get the good stuff in there. I really doubt you will go through any sort of cycle unless you leave the rock out of the water for a few hours, which I highly doubt is planned. Good luck with the move.