Question about switching tanks

[Trucker84]

So, I started setting up a reef tank in this old 40gal reptile aquarium. Its been about 3 weeks cycling now. My brown algae bloom started a couple days ago. I've got 30lbs of crushed coral 20lbs of live sand and 44lbs of live rock. Also several damsels to aid cycling.

I just found a 55gal on craigslist for $30 and I'm sure it would, in the long run, be better for me to use this as those reptile tanks aren't really supposed to hold water anyway.

If i buy this tank, what is the best proccess to go about moving everything from A to B? How will it effect my cycling? I am anxious to start adding corals, but am trying to be patient. I thought i would wait for my brown algae to back off a bit, then switch with a major water change afterwards. I thought maybe bring 20 gallons of old water over to the new tank, then sand and rock, then fresh water. I'll probably ditch those damsels then and get a few chromies.

Any input is very helpful, i am quite new to salt water.

 

[azcummins]

This should be the gist of what I'd suggest: (my response from a previous post with pretty much the same question)

Is your new tank empty? If so, i'd pull all the fish out and put them in a cooler with some live rock and a bubbler, then move all the sand, LR, equipment to the new tank. Your nitrates will probably spike a little due to you stirring up the sand bed, but the fish you have are hearty and should tolerate it. One thing I'd recommend is to get a skimmer so it can pull out all the nasty organic stuff that will get stirred up.

Also, I'd either go to your local store and get some pre-mixed SW or have some homemade ready to go and i'd do a 50% water change about 3-4 days after the move, then a 10-20% water change every 3-5 days till your nitrates come down.

I just went through a similar even with my 55 gallon and the skimmer was working overtime to clean the tank. A week later and 2 water changes later, my nitrates dropped from 75 to 30 and the gunk accumulation in the skimmer slowed down. The fish (yellow tang, marron clown, dotty back) and the cleanup crew tolerated the high nitrates just fine and are happy as can be.

 

[Trucker84]

So how much water should i bring over from the old tank to the new one?