If it were me, I would get a large rubbermaid squarish type container, put your LR in there when it arrives, and then siphon off water from your tank into this container for the LR. Add one of your of powerheads to keep the water moving until you can vacate the cc and add in the LS.
Once the tank is empty of the old substrate, lay down the LS. Get fine particle size, not larger grain sizes. In this case, smaller is better. Get your powerheads moving gently in the tank. It will basically look like you dumped milk in the tank, but this will settle. Once it does, you can add the LR. Once the LR is back in the display, get the water in the square LR container back into the display. Again, it will look like a dust storm, but it will settle. Once it does, you will see that your LR has some sand on it. If you have a very small powerhead, you can effectively and gently blow this off.
With a live sand setup, you can definitely move to reef tank with the correct lighting. Crushed coral substrate can not support a reef tank well. The sharp edges of the coral wound micro-fauna in the sand, as well as other sand dwelling animals, such as stars, worms, snails, etc. You made the right decision to ditch the cc.
If you don't have this book, get it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/189...lance&n=283155
