Making an upgrade

[Dbigfish]

I currently have an Evo 13.5 that's been running for just over a year and I feel it's time to make an upgrade.
I replaced the factory hood and light for an acrylic hood with cutouts for my current orbit marine led. Aragonite substrate and roughly 10lbs of live rock.
Current stocking
Black and white ocellaris clownfish
Yellow clown goby
5 blue leg hermit crabs(who I despise)
Green star polyp
5 zoanthid colonies
One Aacan
My plan is to build the same style tank out of a 29 gallon tank with the same style integrated filtration run by a 400gph pump a 500gph power head and the next size up current orbit marine led light. I have an idea on how I plan to assemble everything but any advice would be appreciated but my real question comes with how to move everything from my current tank to the upgrade. Is it just as simple as running the new tank to temperature removing some water and drip acclimating all my existing corals and fish? I've had mild success up unto this point and I'd hate to ruin everything by trying to make it better. I know I'll need more love rock and substrate but will just the rock I have now sustain my fish until more bacteria grows? I just can see adding the existing aragonite to the new tank without creating a terrible mess


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[Sniperhank]

As long as you have the temp and salinity matched, I'd just move everything over. I'd get all new sand rather than re using what you have so you aren't carrying over any un needed nitrates. Use a piece of PVC to pour the new sand in on top of your rock and it won't make a huge mess.

 

[Dbigfish]

Thanks for the advise. I was thinking about putting some frag rack grid on the bottom of the tank so that the rock never made contact with the glass would that cause any issues of stagnation in the substrate or am I trying to prevent a problem I shouldn't worry about.


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[Sniperhank]

I used light defuser like you described under the sandbed in my old 55. Didn’t cause any issues.