swapping tanks

So ill be swapping everything from my current setup which is a 29 gal to a 40 gal with a sump in a couple of weeks and im wondering when I move the sand if I should rinse it out or just move it over.  I know the bottom layer of my sand is really dirty and when i move everything i can of course expect a spike in nitrate but do you guys think if i clean out the sand that should help reduce the nitrate spike.  Im thinking I might as well rinse the sand out a little maybe not over kill but just so my new set up can start a little cleaner and not have so much detritus built up... All I have is a pair of clowns, 2 peppermint shrimp and some zoanthids so even with the new tank cycling everything should be ok...  what do you guys think is the best way to go about moving everything over?  Dont you love newb questions 

Mine is about 3-4" too

I just moved a tank last month... asked the same question.  I put all the sand in buckets to move and poured the yucky water off the top.  I poured a small amount of RO water over it and rinsed it. Didn't really stir anything up just got the rest of that green junk off. After adding it back to the moved tank and aquascaping I let everything settle overnight and most of the next day running only filter (skimmer was on the QT tank).  It totally looked green and I thought maybe I would need a huge cleaning crew or have a spike. After putting all the buddies back in, they cleaned it up lickity split and I haven't had any kind of spike.  I have been so happy about that!

I highly recommend a rinse. With yours being so dirty I would do it with salt water like Adam says.

Congrats! Upgrades are great!

Melody

Thanks Melody! Im glad you agreed with what I said or more like I agreed with what you said since I was writing my post before I saw yours .  I'm very excited for the upgrade cant wait!  I wish I was upgrading to a tank the size of Adam's!!  but without having to pay for it though hehehe.