Moving 300 gallon acrylic tank

I disassembled a fully (fake) planted tank complete with massive rocks and some 20ish fish in about an hour. That includes taking out the sand. You want to be on the safe side here, man. Even 20% of water can slosh and potentially crack your tank or pop a seal.

:cheers:
 
Dump the water, do not save it.
Remove all fish, dump as much water as possible, plants, wood and sand can stay unless the sand is over 2in deep.
 
The dowel idea sounds like a good one if you put plywood or something under the stand.

Defiantly drain the tank and move the fish. I would probably clean the tank a few hours before to help with the possibility of spikes when you fill it back up. Remember to keep the filters wet, and any decor or even some substrate wet as well. You want to keep as much of the beneficial bacteria alive as you can. While the whole process doesnt seem like it should take too long, it may take longer than expected.
 
Even if you leave only 20% of the water in the tank, you are looking at around 600lbs (including the weight of the stand and the tank iteself). That is going to be a bear to move.

Those rods you referenced are $30 each. If you want six, that's $180...seems like a lot to me for something you are only going to use once.

...just keep the fish in a rubbermaid container, drain the tank entirely, then move it.
 
aldiaz33 said:
Even if you leave only 20% of the water in the tank, you are looking at around 600lbs (including the weight of the stand and the tank iteself). That is going to be a bear to move.

Those rods you referenced are $30 each. If you want six, that's $180...seems like a lot to me for something you are only going to use once.

...just keep the fish in a rubbermaid container, drain the tank entirely, then move it.
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completely agree on this one, if you do the job the way its suppose to be done,then you don't have to do it twice which at the end will end up being more work than netting your fish, or more costly
 
aldiaz33 said:
Even if you leave only 20% of the water in the tank, you are looking at around 600lbs (including the weight of the stand and the tank iteself). That is going to be a bear to move.

Those rods you referenced are $30 each. If you want six, that's $180...seems like a lot to me for something you are only going to use once.

...just keep the fish in a rubbermaid container, drain the tank entirely, then move it.
Click to expand...
I've moved boilers that weighed A LOT more than 600 lb that way, and once it's up you'd be surprised at how easily a couple of people can move something as heavy as a car on a couple pieces of black iron pipe. That said I wouldn't want to subject the stand as described to the stresses involved, particularly in moving it onto and off of the pipes and then horsing it into final position.
 
Lord only knows I love to avoid work and all the hassles that come with jobs like this. So in those events where I moved tanks, furniture, etc. I found one really simple method. It does take two people. In this case probably 3. One to simply lift one end of the object, and another to slide an over-sized section of carpeting under just one end, upside-down. Then one person pulls on the rug and another lifts ever so slightly while pushing. I've moved pianos over hardwood floors this way without a scratch, and moved fish tanks with barely a wave. Patience is key with moving tanks. I gotta admit, I really like the steel rod idea and it makes a ton of sense on a concrete slab.

Fish tanks are an entirely different beast; glass or acrylic. There's been lots of advice and cautions provided here, all very well-founded. To me the one that's the true deal-breaker is the issue of the tank going through another cycle. With all the fish in there that you've described and substrate, I wouldn't go the "all-in" route. If you have a LFS nearby that will work with you, they may be willing to hold the fish for you until you get it moved and re-cycled. A bare-bottom reef tank would be a candidate, but not your case. This piece of advice comes from a person that's always looking to do things with as little effort and fewest headaches as possible.
 
OP- You won't necessarily have to go through another cycle if you do it right. If you keep your bio media wet you should be fine. If your tap water has much different parameters than your tank water then you should save as much of the aquarium water as possible to avoid killing off your bio. After getting your fish into containers and draining, you could then pretty easily get the tank and stand onto dollies then roll it over to the new location.

I would love to see pix of your tank- have any that you can share? :naughty:

I have a soft spot for people trying to move big aquariums...I know how hard it can be to get people willing to help. If you are local and could use a hand I would be more than happy to help out.
 
aldiaz33 said:
OP- You won't necessarily have to go through another cycle if you do it right. If you keep your bio media wet you should be fine.
Click to expand...

This is a very good point. I've upgraded from one tank to another for a couple of years now (including brand new tanks), each time taking care to keep the filter bio-media wet from the old tank. All I've ever had to do was put the same filter on the new tank, and "hey presto!" I've never had to re-cycle a tank. The longest mini cycle I've experienced doing this, was no more than a few days. While beneficial bacteria does grow on gravel, sand, objects in the tank, and in the water column, a vast majority of the beneficial bacteria is in the filter media. Keep it in good condition, and you're golden.
 
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