Moving a full tank

[LbulletM]

I will be doing some heavy work in my basement to put in a bar and a built in tank. We just ripped up the carpet and once we get some of the crappy linoleum that had under the carpet, I'll be sanding the concrete, acid staining, and sealing. Don't want to subject the tank to that, and I'll need to move it since it's currently where the built in will be anyways.

So, that brings me to the question of feasibility.

The tank is a 29 gallon and I'll want to have it set up in another room while I build up the soon to be bar room and set up the new 150. Here's the plan...

I was wondering if I could use a scissor lift with a plywood board on top and then just slide the tank onto the lift, allowing me to move it to another room. I figure it's small enough that the stresses wouldn't be too crazy as long as the counter it's currently on and the board on the lift are perfectly flush.

Thoughts?

I guess with a bare concrete floor right now, the tank failing wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen!

 

[Bperau]

Why not pick it up with a helper to move it?

 

[GatorScott]

I literally just did this for a friend last week. Here's what we did went super smooth less than a 30min move.

Drained 1/2 tank water into brute trash can with wheels (his tanks 55g so I'm assuming 29g will be lighter)

Have 3-4guys there to help lift or slide tank. (He's got tile floor so we used sliders from lowes)

Got it in the other room wheeled trash can in and pumped water back in and restart plumbing. Waited about 30min and put lights back on. Everything perfect.

The main thing is planning and having the bodies and equipment there, makes it soooo much smoother than scrambling and being unprepared.

 

[LbulletM]

Why not pick it up with a helper to move it?

Somehow, while trying to include as much specification as I could, I forgot to mention that I wanted to move it either full or at least half full. In which case, I'm worried about the bottom glass between 30+ pounds of rock, 25 pounds of sand, and 100+ pounds of water (assuming half full).

I literally just did this for a friend last week. Here's what we did went super smooth less than a 30min move.

Drained 1/2 tank water into brute trash can with wheels (his tanks 55g so I'm assuming 29g will be lighter)

Have 3-4guys there to help lift or slide tank. (He's got tile floor so we used sliders from lowes)

Got it in the other room wheeled trash can in and pumped water back in and restart plumbing. Waited about 30min and put lights back on. Everything perfect.

The main thing is planning and having the bodies and equipment there, makes it soooo much smoother than scrambling and being unprepared.

So was the tank still on the stand, or did you move the tank to another platform? Other than that detail, sounds like I'll be following this pretty much exactly! Except mine will be easier because I just have a hang on back filter haha.

 

[GatorScott]

Somehow, while trying to include as much specification as I could, I forgot to mention that I wanted to move it either full or at least half full. In which case, I'm worried about the bottom glass between 30+ pounds of rock, 25 pounds of sand, and 100+ pounds of water (assuming half full).



So was the tank still on the stand, or did you move the tank to another platform? Other than that detail, sounds like I'll be following this pretty much exactly! Except mine will be easier because I just have a hang on back filter haha.

We left it on the stand. Half full.

 

[LbulletM]

We left it on the stand. Half full.

Shoot. That's my issue and why I need to slide the tank onto another platform. The tank is currently on the counter of some built in cabinets in the basement.

 

[tcampbell23]

I would urge that the seams of a tank are definitely not designed to be moved with water still in it. However, I understand your situation. I'm not sure if your rocks are glued together or not but, if they aren't you run the risk of causing a rock slide anyway. Why not take the rocks out along with 1/2 - 3/4 of the water and move it that way?

 

[LbulletM]

I would urge that the seams of a tank are definitely not designed to be moved with water still in it. However, I understand your situation. I'm not sure if your rocks are glued together or not but, if they aren't you run the risk of causing a rock slide anyway. Why not take the rocks out along with 1/2 - 3/4 of the water and move it that way?

All of the rocks are glued/epoxied, so I wouldn't be worried about a rock slide. That being said, since they ARE epoxied, taking out the huge right side structure would be a pain. Basically just trying to upset the system as little as possible.

 

[tcampbell23]

Gotcha. I completely understand. By moving the tank with water you'd be putting untold amounts of stress on the seams potentially leading to a leak down the road. My best suggestion would be to remove as much water as you can without exposing your soft corals and LPS to air and move the tank as quickly as safely possible.

 

[LbulletM]

I think I could easily remove 60+% of the water (accounting for the fact that half of the tank height is >50% of the volume accounting for rocks/sand) with the only things out of water being my anemone, a Duncan, and a Tenuis, slide the tank to a platform on a scissor lift that is flush with the counter, roll it to the adjacent room, and refill with the same water I just took out (or partial water change and some existing water), all within ~10 minutes. There is a door between the two rooms, so I just have to get it to the other side of the basement to avoid any dust/fumes from the refinishing.