Whats the best way to move my tank?

zoie2

Active Member
I am moving next door to take care of my mother-in-law. I have a 12 gal tank and it is going up stairs.
Whats the best way to do this?
ANY advise, what to do or not to do would be great!
Thanks
 

rotarymagic

Active Member
take the rock out of the tank and put it in 1 or 2 5gallon buckets (if its gonna be awhile before you get the tank over there, run powerheads in the buckets).. drain the water into the buckets and keep the rock submerged.
keep as minimal water above the sand as possible... lift the tank and put it in place then put a dinner plate on the sand and add back tank water from the buckets slowly to not stir the sand up too much.. once the tank is half full..pull the plate, add the rock then slowly add the rest of the water.
 

zoie2

Active Member
what about my fish(1 clown) and my cleaner shrimp? And every piece of rock has some sort of coral on it, will they be o.k.?
It's just next door, I will have everything ready for my tank so I just have to move it over there, well, my husband will anyway.
I'm a little nervous.
 

rotarymagic

Active Member
Originally Posted by zoie2
http:///forum/post/2878429
what about my fish(1 clown) and my cleaner shrimp? And every piece of rock has some sort of coral on it, will they be o.k.?
It's just next door, I will have everything ready for my tank so I just have to move it over there, well, my husband will anyway.
I'm a little nervous.
toss the fish in before all the water is out of the buckets lol... try to place the rock in a way to not hurt the corals... You could always use a small cooler instead of a bucket if you needed more horizontal space.
 
get the water level as low as possible. It sounds like a short move but i left too much water in mine last night and the sand got pretty stirred and now im worried about a mini cycle
 

zoie2

Active Member
I told my husband I posted this here and he asked why we couldn't drain the water down to the top of the coral and just carry it.
I think the tank will fall apart from the pressure. I don't think it's a good idea.
Any thoughts? Experiences with trying to do this?
and yes, I know it weighs a lot, but he is really strong.
 

zoie2

Active Member
So you don't think the tank will fall apart at the seams?
I only have one rock stacked. I didn't buy alot of rock because I figured the corals would come on rock. which actually, none of them did.
I'm so nervous.
 

premilove

Active Member
its risk bc all you have is the bottom glass by itself supporting the weight of what ever is in the tank..i would never give that a try, JMO
 

spanko

Active Member
It is recommended to remove everything prior to moving a tank. Tanks are not designed to take any weight in them when moving. You can definitely compromise any and or all seams and it may not show up right away but down the road when you don't expect it.
That said I have heard of people taking out everything but the sand and enough water to keep it wet in a small tank, sliding
the tank carefully from where it sits onto a pc. of 3/4" plywood and moving it that way. Then at the new location sliding
it into it's new home.
 

patriot54

Member
Originally Posted by zoie2
http:///forum/post/2878746
I told my husband I posted this here and he asked why we couldn't drain the water down to the top of the coral and just carry it.
I think the tank will fall apart from the pressure. I don't think it's a good idea.
Any thoughts? Experiences with trying to do this?
and yes, I know it weighs a lot, but he is really strong.
I agree with your husband on this one. Does your tank have a black plastic edge around the bottom.
 

zoie2

Active Member
yes it does have that black plastic. and it's only a 12 gal. with not much live rock and only 20lbs of live sand.
hmmmmmm... I hate making descisions like this!!
 
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