moving my tank and down sizing

hi everyone its been a long time since last posting at all but im back and here is my dilema, im moving quite a distance from where my tank is set up and have bought a red sea 250. im wanting to replace the substrate but move all my inhabitants into the new tank in one go, so my plan is this. the new tank is set up and ready for water. id then place the rock from my existing tank in containers of water out of the existing tank (enough just to cover them) and as i have sold of my coral i only have fish i would put them in an ice chest with a heater and air stone. the drive is about 6 hours and the temp outside lately is lucky to get to 24C so im hoping the transport will go fine im just concerned about not using the existing sand bed. also ill be filling the new tank with the existing water plus about 20% fresh sea water

 

I actually have accomplished this very task on a smaller scale of course without any livestock loss. I saved and used the same water in the old tank to the new one. I then cleansed the sand through a pillow case using a garden hose. I did save a portion of the substrate however to be added back as to the new tank for seeding purposes. This did cut down drastically on the mini cycle that can be expected.

You may want to later add the cleansed original substrate slowly with either one of these methods both have worked for me. Its a lot of work but will save you tons of $$$$$$

Adding sand to the aquarium the easy way - YouTube


How to add sand to an established aquarium + marine tank update! - YouTube





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the sand i have in the original tank is a beach type sand and does cause algae problems. i knew this when i put it in, but i did it anyway as the original occupant of the tank was a sting ray and it gave the best substrate for her. if i use a portion of the original under the new reef base will this still be a problem?

 

like willl a small amount of the original substrate cause algae problem?

 

anyone?