Reconfiguring The Frag Tank

[LPS_Blasto]

The current 10g frag tank is more of a nano with a lot of corals sitting around. I have about 13lbs of rock in the tank and about 12lbs of sand. The HOB refugium has a DSB, some apple sized rock rubble and cheato ball.

I currently have 1 little mag rack on the front glass. I'm securing the frags to small pieces of rock rubble right now. The problem is the rocks get tipped around and turned over by the snails in the tank. There's a small turbo, a medium astrea and a nessarius snal in the sand bed. Frags on the mag rack can end up toppled over and falling upside down in the sand bed, or on top of another coral. I happens multiple times per day and it's getting old. I'm constantly picking up corals.

Goals:
More frags in the tank
Less maintenance

Plans:
Bare bottom
Start using plugs
More racks and egg crate
Move nessarius snail back to DT
Move astrea snail back to DT


I plan to leave the HOB refugium in tact. I'm planning to take about 13lbs of rock out of the tank. I'm planning to take all the sand out of the tank. Leave the small turbo snail and the emerald crab in the tank. Got a little algae problem in there right now.

Questions:
Should I remove all the sand and rocks in one shot?
Should I remove the sand first and then wait a few weeks before removing the rocks?
Cycles?
Leave the 6-line in there without any rocks or structure to hide in? Only other option is sell/trade him because he can't go back in the DT.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Reddog170]

I am not sure about the 6 line. I would slowly remove the rocks followed by the sand, just seams easier that way. I would also be doing daily tests while changing things around. Good Luck to you, Shaun