Moving a tank in my house HELP!!!

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FrankBrum

Registered Member
Nov 14, 2006
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I need to move a 125 gallon tank that is thriving with African Cichlids. I need to move it from one room to another, for several days and then back. I’m talking like a 20 foot round trip. We are carpeting and painting the house.

I guess I need lots of buckets and such to house fish for a few days, but can I move the tank, stand, and substrate all at once? I’d prefer not to dig up all the gravel and destroy any chance of a simple re-set up. How much water could I get away with moving? The stand is plenty strong. I have access to some small wheeled dollies, but small wheels and carpet sound like a nightmare. Can I even safely tilt such an aquarium with say 3 inches of water in it? It's about a 1 year old tank. All Glass might be the brand, if I recall correctly...

Advice Please???
 
I once moved my 125 gallon tank with some of the gravel and about an inch of water in it - never again! Holy @#$%, that thing was heavy. The last time I moved it I took everything out and wet/dry vacuumed the water out and it was a breeze comparatively. GOOD LUCK! :D
 
I thought about moving my 125 once, like Grundy did. My back hurt so much, I stopped thinking about it. Then I did it the safe way, complete drain and empty all substrate.
 
On a tank that large I wouldn't risk moving it with the substrate in - put the wrong amount of pressure on one of the corners while lifting and you'll be in the market for a new tank either right away, or after you fill it back up and it starts to leak. I'd get a really big rubbermaid container and set the tank contents up temporarily in it, then move the empty tank.
 
Better yet, if you can..build a false wall around it with access panels and paint the entire wall.

That's what a friend did and he's happy as a pig in ..well you know.

Besides it looks awesome..like a built in living wall.
 
The furniture disks are a great idea. I've never used them but have seen on infomercials where a small car was placed on them and moved with relative ease. See if your local hardware store can rent you a johnson bar(J-bar) its a 6 foot pole with wheels and a plate at the bottom, sort of like a hand truck, but with greatly incresed leverage. It will let you lift the corners of the stand easily to get the disks underneath.
 
dont buy anything from tv... Take it from a sales/retention agent at Adaptive Marketting.
 
Thanks for the input folks!

The stand was made by me. It is a double height of 2x12 lumber around the perimeter, with 2x12 center bracing. The two levels are corner attached with screws and poly glued to 2x4 (vertical) lumber. The two levels are also glued together all the way around. Then, I put 3/4 ply on top and bottom, also screwed and glued. I wrapped the structure with ply paneling that somewhatly matches the wood elsewhere in the room. Silly me didn't put any way to lift it. :rolleyes:

If I am to move it with anything in it, it will stay on the stand, to keep pressure as equal as possible.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the disk idea, after using something like what was mentioned to lift one edge at a time. Will those slide on vinyl flooring? The room where the tank will sit for a few days is a vinyl floored kitchen. Can I just slide in, then slide out?

I'm trying to recall exactly, but I believe there is less than 100 pounds of substrate. That's counting the water/bacteria (agra-alive kinda' stuff) it came in. I think the tank, stand, and wet substrate would be about 600 to 650 pounds. Does that sound about right? I'd remove the rock work and such. I just want to leave the substrate as undisturbed as possible. An inch of water would not be bad, as I have 10 to 15 new spawn that I'll never get into a net.

Thanks again for the help.

Frank
 
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