Removing carpet from under tank... need help

scotty37

Member
Hey guys... been away from here for a while. I have a 120 gallon tank on a 4 foot tall base in my basement. 150 lbs of rock epoxied together, 120 lbs of live sand base. Drilled tank with a 25 gallon refugium.... this weekend my basement flooded from the outside in because of faulty work done.... and all my carpet has to be torn up......
today they came in and cut out the burbur (sp) carpeting from around the tank... when they did this, they cut some out from under the edges of the wood frame.... so now i can actually stick my fingers under the base in a few places, and I dont feel comfortable with that whatsoever.... I now feel that I have to get this carpeting out from under the base and get the tank on the concrete.... Im hoping someone on here can offer a suggestion that doesnt require breaking up all the rockwork and removing it... we could barely lift the tank when it was empty.
Any and all help very much appreciated as always.
Thanks
 

sepulatian

Moderator
There realy is not a way to remove the carpet from under the tank without breaking the tank down. You cannot move the tank while it is full.
 

groupergenius

Active Member
No help I'm sure but.....David Copperfield?????
The only thing I can think of is what some folks call a "high boy". It's a type of pallet-jack that has a hand crank to lift. Maybe you can frame some 2x4's in the stand for it to support. Let me google a bit to find what I'm talking about.
 

scotty37

Member
thanks... im actually impressd that they pulled a good portion of the carpet out from underneath of it... because of the thick stringyness of the burbur, you can pull from a strand and pull out from underneath it.... at some point tho, the balance is going to go.
 

emtguy

Member
Goto your local volunter fire dept or paid fire dept and ask them to come over with their airbags used for extracation. They are like 1/4 inch tall. Slide them under tank then fill em up SLOWLY. Once tank is up cut carpet from around everywhere except air bags. Then sit tank down slowly re arrange bags, do it again and remove rest of carpet.
I would strongly suggest a vol. orginization and tell em you'll give a donation to their dept.
This is only way i know to pick tank up slow and even where nothing is disturbed.
 

t316

Active Member
Is this a glass tank? I'm assuming so, since you made mention that you could barely pick it up empty. If it's glass, there is nothing that's going to work. The air bags were a good idea, but any movement at all is going to cause a stress break in the glass.
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2467497
Is this a glass tank? I'm assuming so, since you made mention that you could barely pick it up empty. If it's glass, there is nothing that's going to work. The air bags were a good idea, but any movement at all is going to cause a stress break in the glass.
EXACTLY!!! You cannot move a tank full of water. A 10 gallon will break at the seams just from the force of the water sloshing. You will have to dismantle the tank.
 

emtguy

Member
Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/2467497
Is this a glass tank? I'm assuming so, since you made mention that you could barely pick it up empty. If it's glass, there is nothing that's going to work. The air bags were a good idea, but any movement at all is going to cause a stress break in the glass.
Not if same amount of air is put into all bags at same time. The tank will not move ANY. it wont even know it is being picked up. If air bags(larger scale ones) can move a house without cracking sheetrock i assure you they can pick up a glass tank. This will work if you can figure a way to lift tank a quater of a inch.
 

t316

Active Member
Originally Posted by GrouperGenius
http:///forum/post/2467494
Still have to lift the stand and all a little..4" but something like this might be for rent somewhere near you???
http://www.beacontechnology.com/port...fts/lifttruck/
Even this Grouper is going to cause some shift in the base, and thus the glass. If you had a way to jerryrig these lift forks so that they are solid across (not just two forks) and then the whole stand lifted.......I still put a $1 bet that it's going to crack.
 

ricky1066

Member
If you live by me In Brooklyn I would come over and just hold it up for you while you pulled the carpet out .And I would come back and hold it up again when yo installed the new one.
Hey alittle humor helps
 

t316

Active Member
Originally Posted by emtguy
http:///forum/post/2467518
Not if same amount of air is put into all bags at same time. The tank will not move ANY. it wont even know it is being picked up. If air bags(larger scale ones) can move a house without cracking sheetrock i assure you they can pick up a glass tank. This will work if you can figure a way to lift tank a quater of a inch.
You are right...It's possible, but with sheetrock, you can patch it up at the new location. With glass, there ain't no second chance.
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by emtguy
http:///forum/post/2467483
Goto your local volunter fire dept or paid fire dept and ask them to come over with their airbags used for extracation. They are like 1/4 inch tall. Slide them under tank then fill em up SLOWLY. Once tank is up cut carpet from around everywhere except air bags. Then sit tank down slowly re arrange bags, do it again and remove rest of carpet.
I would strongly suggest a vol. orginization and tell em you'll give a donation to their dept.
This is only way i know to pick tank up slow and even where nothing is disturbed.
How do they move the tank even 1/4 inch without all of the water preasure being a factor? You cannot move a small tank a few inches without doing damage to the seals.
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by emtguy
http:///forum/post/2467518
Not if same amount of air is put into all bags at same time. The tank will not move ANY. it wont even know it is being picked up. If air bags(larger scale ones) can move a house without cracking sheetrock i assure you they can pick up a glass tank. This will work if you can figure a way to lift tank a quater of a inch.
It won't move any once the tank is moved to fit the bags under there..........
 

t316

Active Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2467559
It won't move any once the tank is moved to fit the bags under there..........
Agreed....but I was assuming/hoping, they were talking about cutting under the middle of the stand. But I still say this ain't going to work.
 

emtguy

Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2467559
It won't move any once the tank is moved to fit the bags under there..........

Well i can't figure it all out! Granted, that first 1/4 ich is gona be a witch and it'll probally break and crack seal and kill everything BUTTTTTTTT if you can get it that far i can tell you how to do the rest....
 
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