Swapping tanks

How difficult is it to swap tanks? I found a 50g bow front and I was thinking of swapping my 29g to it. Id like to swap lr, ls, power heads, over flow, and sump. Any ideas or advice from people who have done this? I know ill have to add some more sand and base rock.

 

nighster, its easy IME, as long as you prepare and have containers available large enough to house your livestock, water and rock

the sand - is it a shallow sand bed, and if so how long has it been in the 29?
if its been there a while, your better ditching all but a couple of cup fulls to seed a new sand bed IMHO

if the new tank is going into a different location to existing tank, thats easiest
if the new tank is going into same location as existing one, that requires a bit more effort
but its still easy IME

Method that worked for me
24 hours before the big day, make 30 gallions of new saltwater ( you may waste some old water during the strip down so its best to make more than you need)
on the day
1) have large containers placed near to current aquarium
2) start syphoning water into these containers, and as water level lowers , begin transfering your coral to these
3) into seperate containers, as the water level lowers and the corals are removed, start transfering live rock into these containers
4) once all the rock is out, and you are down to last inch or two of water, then you can net the fish easily
5) if in doubt throw it out, if the sand bed is deep or has been in there for a while, throw this and the last couple of inches of what will be by now dirty saltwater away
6) move new tank into location
7) start adding new base rock and then some of the rock work from 29 (I think that if you add new base rock, and its all at the base of the new set up, it will not look as odd as it would if you added clean base rock into different locations in the tank ), and pump some water into the tank from the holding tank the rock came from ( using a 2 litre jug is also an option although a labor intensive option)
8) add a new sand bed at this time ( or if your old sand was less than 12 months old and shallow, rinse that out in the last couple of inches of water in the 29, and give it a final rinse with another gallon or so of old water from the holding tubs)
9) once you have all the rock back in location , start adding back the corals from the lower levels - whislt continuining to remove water from holding tubs into new tank
10) once you have all your stuff from the old tank in the new tank, and have also added a new sand bed and extra base rock - top off the tank with the new salt water you made the day before

thats roughly how I did it 18 months ago
I did go for new sand to be on the safe side
and testing revealed no traces of ammonia or Nitrite due to this tank change

Steve

 

That's pretty much what I figured id have to do. The sand in my 29g is 3 to 4 inches deep and only about 3 months old, is this safe to use?

 

3 months old is still fairly new, but it might be easier to just add new sand IMO

 

Yes IMO, a sand bed of 3 months old, will be safe to use
when you are down to last couple of inches of water, stir the bed up
to get as much crud out of the sand, then scoop sand up using a net, and then rinse the sand with a couple of gallons of old tank water ( hence making 30 gallons spare, when you only need 20 or so is a good idea IMO)

Steve