Advice on moving 20 gal tank from one wall to another 8 feet away

[Reefer1485]

Hello All,

So Since my tank has been set up for a few months now and all is going well. The wife and I would like to move our tank from its current location to an adjacent wall that is almost 8 feet away. What is the best way to do this? my thoughts are as follows:

Drain the tank down just enough for the fish and coral to be covered.
Completely drain the back sump
pull all equipment out and place in fresh saltwater to be added in after moved
carefully lift tank off stand and place on table next to the stand until stand is moved and placed in new location
put tank back on stand, refill will half old water and half new water

pulling out fish and coral is not an option

Please let me know

Thanks

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

Hello All,

So Since my tank has been set up for a few months now and all is going well. The wife and I would like to move our tank from its current location to an adjacent wall that is almost 8 feet away. What is the best way to do this? my thoughts are as follows:

Drain the tank down just enough for the fish and coral to be covered.
Completely drain the back sump
pull all equipment out and place in fresh saltwater to be added in after moved
carefully lift tank off stand and place on table next to the stand until stand is moved and placed in new location
put tank back on stand, refill will half old water and half new water

pulling out fish and coral is not an option

Please let me know

Thanks

This really depends on how the rock structure is set up. Is it all one solid piece? Meaning did you use some kind of cement or epoxy. I'd be worried about the rocks falling and the fish being crushed/corals breaking. If you're strong enough, just move it a little at a time. Remove as much water as is possible. If you have 5 gallons of water left, with tank, stand, rock, and all other things, you're looking at about 100-150 pounds. Not a bad move with 2 people moving it. You don't need to worry about the corals being covered up as long as you spray them with tank water everyone couple of minutes. Corals are frequently out of the water during low tide.

 

[Reefer1485]

This really depends on how the rock structure is set up. Is it all one solid piece? Meaning did you use some kind of cement or epoxy. I'd be worried about the rocks falling and the fish being crushed/corals breaking. If you're strong enough, just move it a little at a time. Remove as much water as is possible. If you have 5 gallons of water left, with tank, stand, rock, and all other things, you're looking at about 100-150 pounds. Not a bad move with 2 people moving it. You don't need to worry about the corals being covered up as long as you spray them with tank water everyone couple of minutes. Corals are frequently out of the water during low tide.

The rock is not much and it is epoxied together to stay in place. all the rock maybe weighs around 30 pounds. when set up, 1 20 pound bag of sand. so yeah I see what your saying it could be around 100 pounds. I am looking to do it this weekend. I will have fresh water made and ready to go. I will see if I can move it while on the stand by pushing from the very bottom. just have to be very careful not to make it slosh around much.

 

[mike550]

@Reefer1485 I’ve had to move a 26G tank out when we were painting a room. Your thoughts are spot on. The key is getting the water level as low as possible. I brought the water down to a level where I’ve exposed the rock but not corals.

One suggestion is that I set a movers dolly next to the tank and lowered it onto that. Then simply slowly wheeled it to where it needed to go.

 

[Reefer1485]

@Reefer1485 I’ve had to move a 26G tank out when we were painting a room. Your thoughts are spot on. The key is getting the water level as low as possible. I brought the water down to a level where I’ve exposed the rock but not corals.

One suggestion is that I set a movers dolly next to the tank and lowered it onto that. Then simply slowly wheeled it to where it needed to go.

I have some coral on the rock which I can brake off bc it’s still on the frags and I glued the frags to the rock.

 

[DaneGer21]

Drain water all the way down to where only the fish are covered, an inch or two is fine. Get an extra set of hands and pick it up.

Rock and corals will be fine out of water for 10-15mins.

Get it all moved, and fill it back up.

 

[Hasted]

I moved a 29g temporarily to replace it with a new tank.

I removed a lot of water and the top rocks. I covered any exposed rocks with paper towels to keep them moist (seemed pointless looking back). Corals I lined up under water in the sandbed.
I then put furniture movers under each foot of the stand and slid it easily.
Water was in buckets next to tank with rocks. Just put it all back together after.

 

[Reefer1485]

Drain water all the way down to where only the fish are covered, an inch or two is fine. Get an extra set of hands and pick it up.

Rock and corals will be fine out of water for 10-15mins.

Get it all moved, and fill it back up.

Sweet! Gonna move it this weekend. Will have new water mixed up ready to pump in. Going to mix with the old water half and half.

 

[Reefer1485]

I moved a 29g temporarily to replace it with a new tank.

I removed a lot of water and the top rocks. I covered any exposed rocks with paper towels to keep them moist (seemed pointless looking back). Corals I lined up under water in the sandbed.
I then put furniture movers under each foot of the stand and slid it easily.
Water was in buckets next to tank with rocks. Just put it all back together after.

Haha I wish I could put movers under my stand but it’s the innovative marine APEX stand for the 20 gal Nuvo. It does have the plastic stoppers on the bottom I may end up trying push from the bottom just don’t want to scatch my floor haha

 

[992gnt]

Get some furniture moving pads from a hardware store. They go under the feet or corners of the stand and glide easily across the floor, provided it's not carpeted of course. That's how I moved my 60 out of the way to put a new tank in its spot.

 

[Reefer1485]

Get some furniture moving pads from a hardware store. They go under the feet or corners of the stand and glide easily across the floor, provided it's not carpeted of course. That's how I moved my 60 out of the way to put a new tank in its spot.

I would love to but the APEX stand sits flush on the floor. . Or I wonder if I can lower the water enough to tilt the tank and stand then put them under. I will try and see

 

[992gnt]

That's exactly what I did, my stand sat right on the floor as well.

 

[Reefer1485]

That's exactly what I did, my stand sat right on the floor as well.

Okay awesome!!! Thanks I will do that them haha.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its easy- Get two strong people. Drain tank down just below the halfway mark and salvage water. Slide tank forward and SLOWLY walk it and contents to new location and carefully reenter the salvaged water into tank and fire tank and filters back up
I did this with a 150 g a few years ago and a 120g about 3 years ago

 

[Reefer1485]

Its easy- Get two strong people. Drain tank down just below the halfway mark and salvage water. Slide tank forward and SLOWLY walk it and contents to new location and carefully reenter the salvaged water into tank and fire tank and filters back up
I did this with a 150 g a few years ago and a 120g about 3 years ago

Haha well it’s gonna be me and my wife. I will see if my neighbor would come over and help

 

[Rmckoy]

The rock is not much and it is epoxied together to stay in place. all the rock maybe weighs around 30 pounds. when set up, 1 20 pound bag of sand. so yeah I see what your saying it could be around 100 pounds. I am looking to do it this weekend. I will have fresh water made and ready to go. I will see if I can move it while on the stand by pushing from the very bottom. just have to be very careful not to make it slosh around much.

I wouldn’t push or slide just in case the stand might collapse or break .
rebuilding a stand while a tank is empty could cause more issues .
Empty enough to be able to lift slightly ,
Carry or wheel to new location and setup .

 

[vetteguy53081]

Haha well it’s gonna be me and my wife. I will see if my neighbor would come over and help

That will work and perhaps wife can move stand to new location for you

 

[Rmckoy]

Its easy- Get two strong people. Drain tank down just below the halfway mark and salvage water. Slide tank forward and SLOWLY walk it and contents to new location and carefully reenter the salvaged water into tank and fire tank and filters back up
I did this with a 150 g a few years ago and a 120g about 3 years ago

Easy easy easy ..

Can I message you when it’s time to move the 230gal ?

I hired movers to do the slugging

 

[Reefer1485]

I wouldn’t push or slide just in case the stand might collapse or break .
rebuilding a stand while a tank is empty could cause more issues .
Empty enough to be able to lift slightly ,
Carry or wheel to new location and setup .

I have also been worried about that as well if I pushed it.

 

[Reefer1485]

I wouldn’t push or slide just in case the stand might collapse or break .
rebuilding a stand while a tank is empty could cause more issues .
Empty enough to be able to lift slightly ,
Carry or wheel to new location and setup .

I have also been worried about that as well if I pushed it