That's a good plan so far and ill add a small recap just in case I missed anything in your plan.
K dog your thread is coming in handy ~![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
removing those prized items out of the sand needs to come after the take apart, so that no cloud of detritus and possible ammonia stirs in the tank. OM we haven't seen tank pics and really don't need to, but considering the ones here from KD see the live rock that needs cleaning. Opinions range greatly on if detritus should be cleared from live rock, or if that causes a cycle, but I will hold course that any detritus you xport into new system is the sole, singular and immediate cause of any ammonia that we must assess from a non API test kit, if that kind of double checking is warranted at all. I do these flips/cleans with zero testing, as I permit no ammonia, and I never rinse less than massively. a full on attack is no cycle, a partial attack with API is a mini cycle simple as that.
Would you mind posting your full tank shot OM just to see variables, sandbed cleanliness etc?
Your take apart needs to be fish, shrimp and corals in one container, live rock in another so you can clean and inspect it for mass waste not in the presence of your delicates, and this leaves only the live sand in the empty tank for you to try and fish out your ideal sandbed animals we want to xfer over.
Your new tank simply needs zero detritus, and all the bac is on the new wet pack live sand you'll use, or your rinsed current sand, and on the rocks. **the rocks have massive surface area that functions better, not less, as a filter when you truly blast clean it** this is a rule, rinsing is never antibacterial even though opinions vary on the matter, and the opinions typically come from someone who doesn't plate, count and enumerate bacteria in their dreams from having done it for income as long
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
B
K dog your thread is coming in handy ~
removing those prized items out of the sand needs to come after the take apart, so that no cloud of detritus and possible ammonia stirs in the tank. OM we haven't seen tank pics and really don't need to, but considering the ones here from KD see the live rock that needs cleaning. Opinions range greatly on if detritus should be cleared from live rock, or if that causes a cycle, but I will hold course that any detritus you xport into new system is the sole, singular and immediate cause of any ammonia that we must assess from a non API test kit, if that kind of double checking is warranted at all. I do these flips/cleans with zero testing, as I permit no ammonia, and I never rinse less than massively. a full on attack is no cycle, a partial attack with API is a mini cycle simple as that.
Would you mind posting your full tank shot OM just to see variables, sandbed cleanliness etc?
Your take apart needs to be fish, shrimp and corals in one container, live rock in another so you can clean and inspect it for mass waste not in the presence of your delicates, and this leaves only the live sand in the empty tank for you to try and fish out your ideal sandbed animals we want to xfer over.
Your new tank simply needs zero detritus, and all the bac is on the new wet pack live sand you'll use, or your rinsed current sand, and on the rocks. **the rocks have massive surface area that functions better, not less, as a filter when you truly blast clean it** this is a rule, rinsing is never antibacterial even though opinions vary on the matter, and the opinions typically come from someone who doesn't plate, count and enumerate bacteria in their dreams from having done it for income as long
B