ASAP Replacing sand bed in established tank

[fishareinwater]

OK so it's been a while but I have a question. I have a soft coral tank that has been running for over a decade with crushed coral in the bottom. It's a 55gl. I need to move it and thought now was an ideal time to change over to a dep sand bed.

How do I do this without killing all my coral and fish? Lol

[ncaldwell]

Honestly I'd put all the corals and fish in a big Rubbermaid tote or something like that then just replace the sand and water. I just basically did the same thing upgrading tanks. Kept the corals and fish in the tote for 2 days while the water settled. They just need a heater and water movement. Then put everything in the new tank. Maybe keep a little of the old sandbed to seed the new sand

[fishareinwater]

How long do I have to wait for. Fish live rock and corals are already in totes but my time is limited. Tank has been up and running with new sand bed for about 2 hours now. I can leave the fish in bins longer than I can leave the coral in bins. The person I am doing it for has no clue how to aquascape and the corals are well established colonies on the live rock. They can scoop the fish into the tank when ever but corals needs to be done asap.

[ncaldwell]

I waited a day until my water wasn't cloudy anymore and put all my live rock in, but you'd have to check your ammonia nitrate and nitrites before fish and corals. With being all healthy live rock mine didn't cycle at all