Relocating Tank question

[newbie for life]

Well, I made a huge mistake and placed this 55g tank in front of a window. Now from what i have read the only real issues with this are temperature fluctuations, and green house effect from sun. Causing rapid growth of algae.
I have made up my mind that i want to move this tank about 8 feet from where it is now across the room. I have to get this thing out of the window. I'm slapping myself now for placing this here to begin with.
With that being said, I have a 55g tank. I have about 8 animals inside. Can i partially drain this tank and move the stand and all or do i have to completely remove all water and species? The tank right now is on a wooden table / stand. I feel like if i remove 75% of water into 5 gallon buckets leaving 40lbs of substrate and 70lbs of LR inside I can get my bro to help me lift and move this 8ft away.
Does anybody have a better idea? Does this sound like a bad idea. I dont want to be cleaning fish and water up off the floor. Just looking for opinions from prior experiences.
One idea i had was take a few cut pieces of carpet maybe welcome mats or something and put it under the wooden legs of stand and slide it on the wooden floor to new location. Sounds doable..
thanks for any opinions in advance.

[necigrad]

I dont' know if drainging all that water is good or bad, but it should work otherwise. I also think you have the right idea of finding some type of mechanical advantage. I remember seeing some commerical on TV for some coasters that you can slide under furniture and use to move the item. It's even supposed to work on carpet.

I don't know what draining that much water would do. And even if you can drain the water, is the LR stable enough to stay as it's stacked now? Might be a good idea to get some buckets, transfer the livestock, drain more water, then move.

NOTE: I've never moved a tank, and the closest I've been to a saltwater tank was swimming on the Jersey shore as a kid like 25-30 years ago.

[Ace25]

Its hard to say with a 55. Need to see a pic of your stand to help more. I know I moved my 29g on the stand by taking out 1/2 LR and 1/2 the water. But thats quite a bit smaller than your tank.

I am picturing the 55 I used to have and I don't think I would have tried to move it. Too narrow of a tank for my taste to try and move with stuff in it. I would have drained it almost completely and taken out all but the base rock before thinking of moving it. Just what I would do...

[Dustin83]

Just be careful not to have too much weight (i.e. LR and Water) left in the tank when you (and likely few others) lift it.. it could cause the bottom to crack if it's not thick enough... in that regard, it might be better to maybe quickly lift the corners of the stand with the tank on it, put some blanket or carpet piece on all corners and slide it.. but then again, I guess that would only work if it was hard floor.

Draining the water shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure the liverock doesn' stay dry too long... and pour the same water back in when it's moved.

Good luck with that.

[newbie for life]

thanks. Yes ill try to post some pics up after work today. I do have hardwood floors that are pretty slippery. I am hoping i can get some pieces of carpet of some sort under the legs of the stand (the stand is also wood) .. and then ill be able to slide it. I just dont want to risk the integrity of the tank and stand in anyway. Without having to totally transplant everything out and then back in. So .. ill try to post pics soon. Thanks for advice.

[Grins]

I've practically torn down my 55g, all but moved it when doing a major aiptasia battle. If I had to move it I'd frankly empty it and then move it empty and set it back up as quickly as safely possible. Better to do this than risk moving it and breaking it and panicing over how to keep everthing alive.

[newbie for life]

thats a low risk good point....but can i save all the water.......i mean i dont want to lose all the fish from poor water quality either.... where do i store them while i move everything.. in a bucket? with no filtration or current? Do i store all 55 gallons in 5 gallon pales?

[nycsicktank]

get those large 54 gallon rubbermaid container from homedepot. place your rocks and powerhead in there. left over waters can be in your 5 gallon buckets.

[Grins]

Agreed, place it in a clean safe holding container.

[newbie for life]

sweet..im doing that