40 Gal Upgrade?

[BaylorPerez]

So, currently my 20G in my room is having some viewing issues. So to help combat this i was thinking of upgrading the tank to either a 29/30G or just a 40/45G tank. 
 
In the Process of this i have a question.
 
How would i move all my substate, ornaments, plants and fish to the tank in the least amount of time as i will be using the same Filter ( 40G HOB filter with added Black Bio-Sponge for extra filtration ).  as i know the substrate and filter has the bacteria needed, i just need to know how to swap sand from tanks as well as ornaments without killing the good bacteria?
 
Also with the fish, how do i move them without killing them in the process due to stress and the moving process?

 

[Robbo85]

Hi , I have recently been through this and its not quite as bad as you may imagine. what I did was
 
set up new tank and stand
drain some water into several big containers
take out plants rocks and wood (you can add these to the containers as it might help the fish so they can hide but will be fine to be out of the water for a few hours)
net fish and put into containers
drain rest of the water into a big jerrycan
scooped up my as much of my sand substrate as I could with bowls and mugs and put it in the new tank.
I then moved the old aquarium out and new one in
added rocks and wood
filled quarter to half of the tank with water from jerrycan
added plants back
filled rest of the tank with dechlorinated water
ran filters and heaters to bring up to correct temp
then added fish back in
 
 
hope this helps