Changing to a new tank, new house

Hey all....

So here is the situation, I am hoping to get some pointers about how to best go about this...

I am being given a 120 gal established tank... FOWLR. Has the following inhabitants: Yellow tang, Blue tang, Naso tang, Sailfin tang, Blue damsel, Maroon clown with a Green Bulb Tip anemone, Blue Linka star, Sea cucumber. There is about 120 lbs of LR in the tank. Current set up has a fuge that isnt doing well and minimal sand.

I am setting up a 180 gal with probably 50-60 gal sump/fuge. I want to add a deep sand bed to the tank and the fuge - (could use a pointer or 2 on that - should I put sand in both??).

I need to try to move the current inhabitants over without too much stress or problems with water parameters.....

This is what I figured I should do... please correct me whereever i need it and add in more info where necessary.

1. Set up 180 gal, sump/fuge with live sand.... get it going for a while to establish itself. How long should I let that sit?

2. Use water changes from the existing tank to seed the new tank... probably 30% on day 1, then 30% 2 weeks later....

3. Move 1/2 of the LR over at the time of 2nd water change..... monitor water for any changes.

4. Move fish over after about 1 month?

There it is..... now tear apart my plan so I can see where my mistakes will be. Have fun.

As an aside... will the cucumber disrupt the deep sand bed? I think it will.

 

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Read my article and hopefully it will help you!
Let us know how you make out!
Please develope a game plan beforehand and dot your i,s and cross your t,s and it will alleviate the added stress!