55g to 180g reef xfer

[dcarrington]

Sop I purchased a 180 gallon tank this week and after I get it up and running will be moving the contents of my 55g reef tank into the 180. Currently the 55g has about a 2" sand bed and about 100#'s of LR. The filter system is a aqueon PRO model 2 refugium, with a hang on side overflow. Lighting is 4x48" T5's. When I setup the new tank, I plan on using about 60#'s of the crushed coral aragonite, then about 180-200's of live sand. I am drilling the 180 back side and installing a custom overflow (4x5x24") with 2 1.5" drains and 2 3/4 returns. Lighting will be the 4 T5's in the current tank and the 4 48" T5's that came with the tank (8x 48" T5's). I am planning on mounting the lights in the center of the hood, so there is a 12" gap on each side, so I can put my lower light corals on the sides. We are planning on adding another 100 or so pounds of LR to the 180 (200 or so pounds total). The refugium for the 180 is a 55g I picked up and installed various baffles. My questions so far are below. Thanks in advance for the advice/thoughts/input!
1. The live sand in the current reef tank, should I use that in the new tank or pitch it?
2. The live sand in the current reef tank, would that be good to use as the base in the new refugium?
3. Saw an ad here for liverockranch has anyone ordered from them, or they have a suggestion where to get LR, since the LFS wants $6+ per pound for Fiji LR.
4. When I get the course crushed coral as a base with about 2-3" of the live sand on top of that, that a god idea, or should I just go with all live sand?
5. About how long should I let the new tank cycle, with the new live sand and rock?
6. I was planning on pulling about half the LR from the current tank and stick it in the new one to help jumpstart the cycle. This a good idea or no?
Thanks again for the input!
dc

[pentrix2]

1. i would use as much as sand possible to seed the cycle
2. i would put it in both to seed the cycle, sump and DT
3. i haven't ordered LR online before, always got mine from local folks
4. i say go with live sand all the way
5. depending how you go about it, if you use the microbacteria liquid in a bottle it will cut it down and make sure to use your live sand and live rock from your other tank. IMO 2-3 weeks
6. IMO it's a good idea

congrats on the new tank

Pen

[crvz]

1) I would be cautious about reusing the sand. Maybe go for a few cup-fulls, but if it's a well established sand bed you may choose to forgo it.
2) plausible, but again I would be hesitant to use it as is. If you do a good job of cleaning it out (presuming there's a lot of waste sitting in the bed), it may be fine.
3) there are a lot of good places to get base rock for the ~$2 a pound range. I havent used that store, but I have used marco rock with good success.
4) it would be my preference to just use live sand. I would avoid the crushed coral.
5) a couple months? I would go very slowly. I've made mistakes during tank upgrades by rushing to stock the larger tank before it's ready.
6) it should be fine to seed the new liverock with stuff from your current tank, especially if you plan on going with base rock.

[pentrix2]

crvz draws a good point, 2-3 months is ideal for your size tank. i've rushed my tank cycle and the end result was very bad.

[Rowdeus]

Good luck with your build.