Moving 300 gallon acrylic tank

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Garebear

Registered Member
Jul 7, 2012
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I am moving a 300 gallon acrylic freshwater tank from one side of the room to another (25 feet). This in in the garage on a concrete slab.
I do not want to have to completely disassemble the tank if I don’t have to. This should be a simple move as moves go.

At this time, I am considering emptying about 80% of the water (keeping most of it to put it back in) and taking out the large rocks / driftwood / plants but leaving the fish in. I would then leverage the tank AND STAND up onto dollies and wheeling it over to the new location and leveraging them down into position. Another option would be to find some metal cylindrical rods and if I can get the tank up on the metal cylinders (dowels), I can roll the tank over into position.

I have read enough online that it is not recommend to move tanks with water and substrate in it but this is a short move. Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts?
 
Well first the suggestion to not have fish and substrate in is for shock and gunk (at least that's what I think). If you're careful I think it's feasible to leave the fish in (I still wouldn't recommend it because after you drain the water you could just net em and put em in whatever container you're holding the tank water in depending on their size) but if you're gonna leave the substrate in do a thorough cleaning beforehand so a bunch of gunk doesn't come up. That can create ammonia spikes which aren't too bad with a good filter it's jst better to be safe than sorry

As far as the move here's an idea. Use dollies or something to leverage it up onto a short platform with wheels on it (might be able to rent these from a place that does tool rentals), wheel it over, and get it off the same way.
 
Do you know a few guys you could call over to help? If you do and you have some sawhorses in the garage, I would put the tank up on those temporarily and move the stand then put the tank back on the stand. But that would probably require moving fish to bind or buckets and any equipment like filters may put a stop to that plan.

That is what I would do, but I have only had to move a 10g tank once so it wasnt nearly as hard as a tank of this size. If you are renting equipment to move it, there is probably a guy at the rental place that could come up with a plan using equipment they have.
 
well if your going to do a 80% drain that means that you have about 60 gallons left which waits about 500 pounds plus the weight of the tank and what you leave in it, now the problem is that water moves so it shifts weight unexpectedly:22_yikes:. I would be very carful loading it to the dolly. and honestly i would empty the whole tank, i wouldnt risk it for just some extra work.
 
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Nepherael said:
Well first the suggestion to not have fish and substrate in is for shock and gunk (at least that's what I think). If you're careful I think it's feasible to leave the fish in (I still wouldn't recommend it because after you drain the water you could just net em and put em in whatever container you're holding the tank water in depending on their size) but if you're gonna leave the substrate in do a thorough cleaning beforehand so a bunch of gunk doesn't come up. That can create ammonia spikes which aren't too bad with a good filter it's jst better to be safe than sorry

As far as the move here's an idea. Use dollies or something to leverage it up onto a short platform with wheels on it (might be able to rent these from a place that does tool rentals), wheel it over, and get it off the same way.
Click to expand...

Great Tip on the ammonia spike from the substrate - I had not thought about that. Also good tip on the renting of the short platform...
I am trying not to net the fish as I have found it difficult to catch all the fish I have. Some are rather easy but I also have several catfish and plecos with barbs that once caught with a net, are extremely difficult to get out. Also, I would have to catch them and put them back in so they all get in the net twice... I also have some eels that are difficult to catch as they dive under the substrate...
 
Yes, I would be calling in a few favors from several friends. I would shy away from the sawhorses because I do not think they could support that kind of weight (assuming I still have rock, water, fish, etc.) in the tank. I am trying to move stand and tank at once so the weight stresses will be more on the stand than the tank.
 
pablo1gr said:
well if your going to do a 80% drain that means that you have about 60 gallons left which waits about 500 pounds plus the weight of the tank and what you leave in it, now the problem is that water moves so it shifts weight unexpectedly:22_yikes:. I would be very carful loading it to the dolly. and honestly i would empty the whole tank, i wouldnt risk it for just some extra work.
Click to expand...

Good thoughts. Yes, it is a lot of weight. The 300 gallon tank is acrylic and honestly not that much weight, my dad and I were able to lift it and move it around rather easily just the two of us when it was empty. I have moved glass tanks before and those are extremely heavy. We needed five people to move a 210 glass tank. I just want to make sure that I do not put any stress on the tank and make it crack / leak. This is why I am contemplating trying to move the stand and tank as one unit, so the tank will still be supported underneath by the stand. Also, at no time is the tank and stand going to completely be off the ground, we would be using leverage to get it up onto dollies or dowels...

I am staring to lean towards metal dowels. They are much smaller in height - under an inch - so you do not need to lift the tank very high. See this Amazon.com link as an idea: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H9L0LM/ref=biss_dp_t_asn
If I get enough of these (probably 6), I can tilt the tank and start putting them under the stand and basically roll stand and tank over to the other side. When the tank comes off one of the bars at the back end, you just move it to the front and proceed.... The only concern I have for this method is that the stand is cheap plywood (standard stand material) and I am afraid the weight of the tank on that one dowel (when I initially get the stand and tank started) will dent the wood base and not roll very well.... maybe put a sheet of plywood between the dowels and the base of the stand...

I have several months to weigh all my options and try to come up with the easiest plan, no rush.

Also note, I do have a 55 gallon setup as a hospital tank and I could probably move all of the fish into that tank for the move. That would be a lot of fish in that one tank, but it should not be for too long. FYI, I have at least 47 fish: 2 black sharks, 3 balas, 8 roseline barbs, 15 tiger barbs, 3 pictus catfish, 1 upside down catfish, 1 angel fish, 2 tire track eels (one of which is 2' long), a peacock eel, a zip zag eel, 2 red tail sharks, 1 rainbow shark, 1 albino rainbow shark, 1 marble pleco, 1 gold nugget pleco, 1 blue pleco, 1 misc pleco, 1 sultan pleco, and one black ghost knife fish. Could be a few I forgot as well... As you can see, it will be a pain to catch all of these fish...
 
Sounds like an active tank. Can we get a pic or video? Sorry I don't have anything to add. Last idea sounds the best though. Maybe if you cover the rod with some type of rubber hose...

@aquaponicpaw
 
Taking any chances moving a 300G tank that still contains 500lbs of water, plus substrate in it, is just asking for trouble in my opinion. You're talking about risking the structural integrity of your tank being weakened, if not completely compromised, which is completely likely with all that weight shifting in a what is it.. 6 foot? 8 foot? long tank. Is it really worth it to you, just so you don't have to catch your fish?

A few weeks afo, I had roughly the same number of cichlids as you have fish, in my 150g tank. A few dozen had been born in the tank, and were therefore not in the original stocking plan and needed to be removed. Even worse, they were very small, and incredibly hard to see and catch once the water started clouding due to all the movement. Still, it took us less than an hour or so to take all the rocks & decor out of the tank, and pull out all several dozen of them. I wouldn't say it was easy, but it certainly wasn't that hard. And it's certainly a lot safer than moving your tank with all that crap still in it.

...And you can always find a way to get your catfish out of the tank without using nets. I've heard of people building traps, using buckets, using large cups, etc. Harder than netting, but safer than moving a partially full 300G tank.
 
Don't recommend it at all, especially with your recent comment of "is that the stand is cheap plywood (standard stand material)", your best bet and quickest ib the long run is to empty it. Having the tank empty isn't for shock/gunk reasons or the potential ammonia spike.

Its based on stressing the tank while carrying it and the unavoidable weight shifts from slopping water around.
 
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