Moving tank?

[ianheyian]

I have to move my 75G tank from one room to another .... about 20 feet, (I'm remodeling). The tank is acrylic, full of rocks and about 18 or so assorted Malawi cichlids. Three of the fish are fairly large ... 4" or so, the rest are all juve's ... 2" or so.

Anyone had to do this? What might be the best approach?

Thanks

[lwooters]

I've done this more often then I care to talk about. Do you have carpet or wood floors? The easiest way with wood floors is to take out a good portion of water and put it in like a rubbermaid container, then lift each end of the tank, one at a time and slide a piece of carpet upside down under it, then it's easy to slide. Even with a lot of water in it, you should still be able to lift it the small amount to get a carpet square under each corner.

[Lady G]

I have a 55 & 29 that I have moved twice now and I haven't lost any fish yet. This is what I did: I went to Walmart and got a big rubbermaid storage container, rinsed it out very well; then I siphoned the tank water into it and put my filter on the side added the plants too caught the fish (not an easy task:eek: ), I ended up taking all the decor out before catching the fish and put what I could in the rubbermaid, finished draining the tank. Then I got my 5g bucket and took a dustpan (also purchased for this purpose) and got all my sand out. Moved the tank where I wanted it and set everything back up...adding fish last (I also added some stress zyme). It was a pain, and maybe someone else has an easier way but that is what I did.

Good luck,

Gin

[aardvark1]

Moved/swapped tanks yesterday. Here's how I stored the fishies whilst moving the tanks around:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n215/artbitt/fish/new4.jpg

Fishies and plants in dechlored water, filters on tubs, with heaters going.

They were only in there for 2-3 hours, all happy to be back in new homes!

[Lady G]

Moved/swapped tanks yesterday. Here's how I stored the fishies whilst moving the tanks around:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n215/artbitt/fish/new4.jpg

Fishies and plants in dechlored water, filters on tubs, with heaters going.

They were only in there for 2-3 hours, all happy to be back in new homes!

That is how I did it pretty much!

[ianheyian]

Thanks for the advise. Pretty sure there is no way to slide it ... I have carpet + tile floors and a 3" step to deal with. I do have some 32G storage containers similar to the ones in the photos. I also have a 30G or so "trash" container that I use for water changes. I guess I'll put the rocks etc. and some of the water in the trash container and the fish in two of the 32G along with a filter in each. Looks like I've got the best part of a full days work!

[wataugachicken]

it really shouldn't take that long, 2 hours max if you decide to spend a lot of time setting the decorations up perfectly. take the rocks out, lower the water level 1/2 to 2/3, then try to catch the fish. it'll go faster when they have less room to escape. really no need to put filters on the buckets, setting them up, priming them, etc. . . will take more time than just moving the tank and getting it back together.

[lwooters]

I moved mine in just a couple hours. It's definately not a race though. Be VERY careful with the tubs of water also, they are very easy to tip and I was scared picking them up that they wouldn't support the amount of weight in them. So easy to make a huge mess when you're doing this.

[ianheyian]

I was toying with the idea of taking all the rocks out. Lowering the water level to roughly 20 gals, I figured that would weigh about 160LB + gravel + tank + fish = ~ 200LB's or so. Two people should be able to move it. But the two issues that come to mind are: If the tank failed? Putting the rocks etc. back with all the fish in the tank?

[Lady G]

I would not recomend doing it that way...I've heard of people trying to move their tanks with the water level down and it collapsing in or crushing, pretty sure I read it on here once....something to do with the uneven pressure of the water or something I believe, I'd just do it the other way if I were you.

[wataugachicken]

i just tried to move my 30g tank that way. it only moved 10ft so it was unharmed, but a mess. the fish were very unhappy and the water moves so much with every step that i will never try to do that again. like a tsunami in a glass box.