I moved my tank that was set up for about 1 1/2 years, a 125 gallon with about 20 gallons in the sump. I removed all the corals first to a holding container that contained an Mp40, my RKL and an heater. Then I emptied the water into containers along with my rocks into separate containers. During the whole process I focused on maintain my temperature within my container holding my corals. In addition, I made up about 30 gallons of new saltwater to be used when setting up the new tank. One thing I will say, whatever container you use to transport your rock, don't reuse the water, it will have a tremendous amount of sand, critters, detritus, etc, just make some extra water and pitch the water from the live rock container. Also, get rid of your sand, no matter how clean it is or you think it is, not worth the risk and the new sand you use will be just fine, just take a little extra time and wash it, you'll be happy in the end not re-using the sand. Now, when I was ready to mobilize, I loaded up the corals last, and when I arrived at my new place I unpacked the corals first by setting up my holding container along with my Mp40, RKL and heater. Now that the corals were stable again, I went ahead and set up the new tank. Put the sand in, filled the tank and started to get the water moving. It was a bit cloudy, so I used a filter sock, let it run until the water was all but clear, about an hour. I then removed my rock from my containers, srubbed them a little to get rid of any detritus/sand/etc and placed them in the tank. Before I moved the corals into the tank, I matched temps and kept the lights low along with moderate flow, and thats all she wrote! In addition, I continued my dosing the following day even though the corals were still acclimating, I figured the sandbed would suck it up. Either way, I saw no adverse affects or swings in my parameters, and I tested religiously for about two weeks.
This process worked for me to the T. I planned it out, thought it through and followed the steps I had laid out for myself. I still must stress not using the water from the rock containers and re-using the sand, just not worth it and in the end it'll all cost you maybe an hour or two to make up some extra water and wash new sand. I would advise setting up a holding container, nothing fancy, for your corals that is temp regulated with some means of water movement, it will save you a lot of hassle and rushing around. Just think everything through, make a plan and stick to it and good luck, hope this helps.
