I made another post, recently, about getting some fish for my new setup. This post is in regards to moving the setup itself. I am going to my GF's work,at a hospital, to take down the setup we are getting and moving it to our house. This will be my first major tank move and some insight on how to make this move as pain free as possible would be greatly appreciated. It's an acrylic tank 60x18x24 which comes out to 112 gallons I beleive. It has about 1.5" bed of gravel at the bottom. How heavy will this be once all the water is drained? I know acrylic is lighter than glass so that is to my advantage. I am sure with the wet gravel it will still be pretty heavy. We are going to put it on a stretcher and wheel it out to the pick up truck. Then its going right on the first floor of the house so not to much actual carrying of the tank. When loading on the truck I am going to bring thick blankets to totally wrap around and load straps to tie it down. Would styrofoam work to help cushion the tank during the ride? Maybe wrap in soft blankets, styrofoam layer, then more blankets, then load straps to secure in place. I just dont want to scratch it up during the move either. I should be able to cycle it quick since I have the filterers with the bacteria already established. I appreciate any and all responses.
Need some advice on tank move
- Thread starter jbn7474
- Start date
Ok, for keeping the tank from moving pretty much anything will work short of wood planks (and even those may work if u wrap them in blanket). With the gravel and assuming its damp that tank will be very heavy (though I don't know the exact weight), I'd put the gravel into buckets if you can and carry those out separate from the tank. So long as the gravel, filters, and decor is kept damp there shouldn't be much of a cycle, if any, when you set up the tank again.
A little off topic but what fish are going into the tank? And what filters does it have?
A little off topic but what fish are going into the tank? And what filters does it have?
jasonfishaddict
AC Members
No need to keep any of the water...actually a complete waste. Though I would recommend doing water tests on the tank and their source water ahead of time, including GH and KH. If the tank has not been maintained well, you could have a tank with some level of old tank syndrome. That can be cured ahead of the move with several small water changes. Compare their source water readings to your own to see if any major differences exist.
Wait, you're not moving any fish over...correct? You're starting all over?
I'd remove the gravel completely. If you want to use it, presumably to help the cycling process even more, you just need to keep it damp in a separate container, bucket, or whatever you use. Otherwise, if the filter media already contains an ample amount of bacteria it would be fine if the gravel dried out. That would just make it easier to move rather than dealing with extra weight and water.
Wish I could help with the actual moving plan itself. I've never moved anything quite this large nor have I dealt with acrylic. Good luck!
I'd remove the gravel completely. If you want to use it, presumably to help the cycling process even more, you just need to keep it damp in a separate container, bucket, or whatever you use. Otherwise, if the filter media already contains an ample amount of bacteria it would be fine if the gravel dried out. That would just make it easier to move rather than dealing with extra weight and water.
Wish I could help with the actual moving plan itself. I've never moved anything quite this large nor have I dealt with acrylic. Good luck!
jasonfishaddict
AC Members
I made a huge assumption . . . my bad. I've moved several tanks and have had success by keeping some of the tank water with the fish but the tanks were complete, clean, and stable.
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I think the water quality isnt as good as it should be. There are currently African cichlids in there and I am going to bag em and try to trade em at the local fish store. I am going in the South American direction since I already have a tank full of Africans who spawn every six months. I dont want to add anymore to my 75 since they are already very territorial and set in their ways. So this will be a new setup as far as fish go. My choices are either an Oscar, flowerhorn, Jack Dempsey, or Pirahnas. I know the Oscars are very friendly and interactive with their owners so that might win me over. I just have to keep reading and researching till I come up with I am going to keep. The filtration that is on there already is a canister and undergravel filter. I think I will keep the canister and ditch the undergravel for an AC 110. I think that combo should be sufficient especially if I use ceramic rings and the foam for the AC. Its going to be a major pain in the butt moving this thing, but I will just keep thinking of the reward setting this up and getting it running right. Thanks for the responses.