Reef Tank Upgrade Process?

[deeze]

I'm thinking of upgrading my 70 gallon reef to a 125 gallon but would like to know a successful process to do it. It will be changing locations from my office to my living room so I can have the two tanks generally set up. I'm planning on just replacing my tank and stand because my light, refuge, skimmer and such should adapt nicely to a 125. Should I start by moving all inverts to a small quarantine tank and then start with half my water/sand by moving rocks to one side and then the other followed by the live rock then fish then inverts? Seems like it's going to be a “panic” situation. Anyone else do this with a good planned out process?

 

[farslayer]

I'm doing something similar. My plan is to simply get the 125 set up and stable with new live sand and a fair amount of live rock (current set up is 46G in the other room). Then I'll simply move all my existing rock over and pump my water out using a magdrive to top off the 125. I'm going to move all of my inverts and fish to buckets and drip them in for the new tank.

 

[jumpfrog]

I moved my 72 to a 125. But, I already had the 125 running for a few years as an aggressive tank. If it was me I'd get the 125 up and running with sand bed and some more live rock and get that cycled first. Then once the tank is settled move my stuff from the 70 over. I moved the rock first, then the corals for placement and lastly the fish and inverts. I didn't lose anything in the process. But again, the 125 was already stable. I'm sure there was a mini cycle by moving everything around. But with good bacteria it should go well.
Good Luck!