Moving tank

[hunterdaddy]

I have a 55 gallon with a DSB, 40 lbs LR, 3 fish, 2 shrimp, snails and hermits as well as several corals (trumpets, 2 colts, some shroom rocks, a toadstool and an umbrella).
I am moving down the street this week and well I just wanted to run this by anyone who has moved a tank and head off any problems ahead of time.
I plan on moving all rock into a suitable container with a bit of tank water.
All fish will be in buckets with tank water as well as corals.
I will drain tank to just about the sand bed and move everything. Hope to have it torn down and put back up in 1 hour tops.
Am i missing anything?????

 

[steintzfish]

Ive done this with my 75 gallon. i removed the sand and all.(it will be very heavy with sand still in) did everything else the same. no losses.
took me about 4 hrs from start to finish.

 

[rockster]

Remove the sand from the tank, it is too heavy. There is a risk of cracking the tank if you move it with the sand in it.

 

[hunterdaddy]

I am not w orried about the weight of the tank as I am in pretty good condition (bench press 300 lbs you impressed yet? ) Would the tank really break from just being moved?? I moved it with stones still inside before I made it a salt water.

 

[irishstout]

dont risk cracking the tank, unless you can afford a newer and larger one . better to be safe than sorry.

 

[jester]

I moved my 45 with sand bed and a little water in it. Not a problem. Think about it, the bottom holds strong with all the water in it right? 2 strong guys can carry it. We did something smarter though, we used a Radio Flyer rubber tire wagon to move it (there was a board on to keep pressure even on bottom of tank). Then once we got to the new place, 2 guys up 3 flights of stairs. Finished off the moving day by filling old water in tank and filling ourselvs with MGD.
Good Luck.

 

[glazer]

Well it's not really the weight that is the issue, sort of... True when the tank if full there is a helluva lot more weight in it, but the difference being it is stationary and properly supported.
When you are moving the tank, there are "unatural forces" so to speak being placed on the tank. I don't care what you can bench press. hehe... you or you and a buddy or you and five buddies (you get my point) cannot truly support the tank properly while carrying it.
There are tons of people I am sure that have moved tanks with still alot of water,substrate,rocks, whatever and had no probs. But it only takes ONE time to mess up yer whole day...not to mention the beer drinking time.
(BTW, is was a 75 gallon that me and a buddy blew the bottom out of... Err, you have been warned, now do what ya want <img src="graemlins//yeahright.gif" border="0" alt="[yeahright]" /> )

 

[rockster]

Agree with glazer 100%, there are uneven forces (torques)acting on the base of the tank while being moved. It is completely different from a stationary water-sand-rock-filled tank where the pressures are evenly distributed at teh base and the sides of the tank...you know that from your high-school physics (hydrodynamics)

 

[hunterdaddy]

Tank has been up for about 6 months. Wont removing everything cause a big spike and pretty much cycle my tank again??

 

[broomer5]

It may .. or it may not.
Depends on how much bacteria are in the live rock, and how much rock you have.
I swapped out a 55 for a 75 and removed all the substrate and started the 75 with new DSB.
Added 75% new saltwater, and live rock to the 75.
Kept the fish in large container's overnight with powerhead and airstone.
No losses.
I agree with glazer and others have said above, and would not try to move a tank with a sandbed.
If I did attempt such a feat .... I would first go to the lfs and BUY a new 55 gallon tank and have it on hand for when the bottom blows out of the old one.
Might want to have some new sand on hand too.
Then if I was lucky and all worked out ... return the 55 to the lfs for refund.
But .... I wouldn't move it full anyway.

 

[drkegel]

Just something to be noted here: glass is not nearly as forgiving as acryllic in this regard. Glass in not a "flexible" as acryllic, nor as strong. If the tank is glass, I would definitely take as much weight as possible out of it.
An acryllic tank will take the added stresses and strains fromt he extra weight; it's up to 17X stronger than glass, and less rigid (fragile). A different issue comes to mind here though - the ease of scratching acryllic, especially while moving it. You would have to take extra care if the tank is acryllic to not scratch it.
I wouldn't move it with much of anything in it in either case. Let us know what you did, and how it turns out.

 

[salty james]

I think the best way to move a tank is:
Buy some large heavy duty trash cans from you local walmart / home depot / lowes etc.. Source a cheap bilge pump.
Back truck up as close as you can to the tank.
Pump water into trash cans in the back of truck. Load rocks / sand / fish in seperate 'manageable' containers.Move tank. I agree with everyone. moving a tank with anything in it is asking for trouble. Plus who wants a hairline fracture to eventually flood your house / apartment. Plus pulling your back out might put you out of work for a while.
When you have arrived at your destination. setup tank / stand pump water out of trashcans into tank. Get filters / PH going. Add LR / LS / fish verts.
Hope this helps,
SJ

 

[brianf01]

I just moved my 45 gal to a new apt about 100 yards from my old one. It took about 4 hours, had a friend help. I emptied all the sand, put the rocks in a rubbermaid container with some water. I transfered about 60% of the water, and put 40% new water in it.
A lot of unseen things died off I am sure, (the skimmer worked overtime for about 2 weeks), but the fish were fine, as well as the shrimp. I dont have any coral, just a lot of coarline algae and alot worms,muscles, barnicles etc on the rocks, they seem to be fine.
I would empty most of the sand into a bucket. add it back in later, besides I got to see all the big worms I never knew existed in there. It was very interesting.

 

[stupid_naso]

I have a question, since we're in this subject anyway, has anyone moved their tank to a different place that is more than 6 hours away? If anyone has done this before, how do you keep your fish alive? Is there some sort of portable pump that can be connected to the cigarette lighter?
Sorry for the interruption .
Thanks,
stupid_naso

 

[tru conch]

stupid naso
when im transporting fish/livestock back from the keys, i use a floating livewell pump. it plugs into my cig. lighter. all it does is float and circulate the water, but you can use the airline to oxygenate the water. hth. you might want to look in the fishing section of walmart or a tackle store.
there are also battery operated air pumps, but i dont have any experience with those, only the livewell/bait pumps. hth