Advice needed to transfer live plant ecosystem to new tank

[jonatheber]

I have a 46 gallon bowfront and the center support snapped. I am getting a new tank and am going to try to transfer as much of the livestock (inexpensive freshwater fish like guppies) and plants as I can to the new tank. I have black diamond sand as substrate, well developed live plants (probably TOO many of them), and a fluval 407 canister filter. I have a bunch of questions about how to do it.

1) How much of the water should make the switch? 50%? Less? More?
2) Do I need to do anything to prepare the new tank's water that is any different than what I do every time I do a water cleaning?
3) Should I just transfer the black diamond sand as is (with whatever surrounds it in the substrate)? Is there some other step I should do?
4) Any tricks to transferring the plants? New plant tabs all over? Or just plant them in the substrate in the new tank?
5) Is now a good time to clean out the filter, or should I leave it intact because I want to keep all the bacteria inside for the moment?

Anything else I should do?

 

[Colin_T]

Turn filter and heater off.
Drain most of the water into buckets and put the fish in them.
Put the plants in buckets of water.
Wash the gravel out. The easiest way to do this is fill the tank with water and gravel clean the substrate.
Move the gravel into the new aquarium.
Fill the new tank with the water from the containers.
Add plants, fish, filter and heater.
Top the new aquarium up with dechlorinated water.
Turn filter and heater on.
Add the light.