Uhh, it time to paint.

[2ManyHobbies]

My wife recently announced that she wants to paint the living room where I have a very nice 55 gallon tank. It is clear that I am going to have to move the tank to paint the wall behind it. Does anyone have experience moving a tank like this for only a short amount of time? Should I remove all of my fish, or drain the tank low enough to move? All of my fish are on the small side. I have a German blue ram about 2" that is my biggest fish. I have live plant and CO2 with soft water.

[125gJoe]

Politely ask her to move it..



:D


(edit..)
As mentioned below...drain it down as much as you can..
Somebody may come up with the idea to have wheels on the aquarium stand..... :scratch:

[Gulp]

Originally posted by 2ManyHobbies
My wife recently announced that she wants to paint the living room where I have a very nice 55 gallon tank. It is clear that I am going to have to move the tank to paint the wall behind it. Does anyone have experience moving a tank like this for only a short amount of time? Should I remove all of my fish, or drain the tank low enough to move? All of my fish are on the small side. I have a German blue ram about 2" that is my biggest fish. I have live plant and CO2 with soft water.

We had to do the same thing with a 55 gallon that had been sitting in the same place for about 3 years.....on carpet. We just lowered the water about 1/2 way, had someone stand next to the aquarium to stabalize, and pushed/pulled it out of its groove and slid it across the carpet. If 1/2 way drained doesn't work, just drain a little more until it slides. What type of surface is it sitting on?

Also, do a good gravel cleaning a day before so it doesn't slosh a bunch of crap around when you move it. You won't have to move it very far to fit a paint roller behind it. :D

[JSchmidt]

I'd remove as much water as possible while still allowing the fish to be fully submerged and able move around a bit. Then get a person on each end and slowly move it away from the wall. The less water the better; even a half-filled 55 will weigh around 250 pounds. The stress on the seams from the tank being moved with that much weight is more risk than I'm comfortable with.

I'd move the tank so it's out of traffic, refill and it, and then do the whole thing again when the paint's dry.

HTH,
Jim