In preparation for a tank upgrade...

[Amadeux]

I will be upgrading my 65 g. tank + 15 g. sump to a Red Sea 535 XL Reefer. The kicker is that the new tank will have to be installed in the same spot as the old one.

I'm thinking about moving the old tank a few feet to make space for the new one. However, this may stress the current livestock more than what it should because I would have to put everything in containers, move the tank, reconnect everything, and put rocks and livestock back in the tank. When the new tank arrives, the process of transferring the rocks and livestock will again stress the system.

Can anyone please guide show me some guidelines on how I can accomplish this project or point me to a thread if someone has already done it before?

I get the new tank in about 2.5 weeks.

(Note: the chances of convincing my wife to put the new tank against a different wall in the living room are zero )

 

[Kyl]

What kind of stand is the 65g on? If you have room to physically move it, removing a lot of the water will get rid of a ton of weight temporarily, you can slide the stand and either put the water back in or just do a giant water change. It might also help your transfer to have some fresher mixed water so your tank is running closer to 'out of the bucket' parameters since the new tank will probably be 100% new water too.

That's what I did with a 65 gallon Aqueon RR tank when I had to move it a bit, drained to about 6" of water temporarily and two of us were able to safely slide it.

 

[Amadeux]

What kind of stand is the 65g on? If you have room to physically move it, removing a lot of the water will get rid of a ton of weight temporarily, you can slide the stand and either put the water back in or just do a giant water change. It might also help your transfer to have some fresher mixed water so your tank is running closer to 'out of the bucket' parameters since the new tank will probably be 100% new water too.

That's what I did with a 65 gallon Aqueon RR tank when I had to move it a bit, drained to about 6" of water temporarily and two of us were able to safely slide it.

Hmm... Awesome idea! I didn't think about that. My current tank is also the Aqueon 65 g. I'm definitely going to try this very soon.

 

[Amadeux]

What kind of stand is the 65g on? If you have room to physically move it, removing a lot of the water will get rid of a ton of weight temporarily, you can slide the stand and either put the water back in or just do a giant water change. It might also help your transfer to have some fresher mixed water so your tank is running closer to 'out of the bucket' parameters since the new tank will probably be 100% new water too.

That's what I did with a 65 gallon Aqueon RR tank when I had to move it a bit, drained to about 6" of water temporarily and two of us were able to safely slide it.

Where you able to lift at least one side? I'm going to have to lift it a little to get past the grout lines. See photos below. Ultimately, I need to move it about 10 feet.

 

[Kyl]

Mine was on an old oceanic stand without feet, but I did have to jump a grout line on tile. It slid really easy on the tile, and we used a couple breaker bars to slightly lift it up and over the lip, being super careful to make sure the stand wasn't pulled or pushed too directly. Since yours is on feet, you could probably use something slippery like a piece of teflon or even those carpeted floor protectors and just raise the feet, put it under, slowly slide to where you are good and then take them out from under the feet.

Again, this will depend on how sturdy your stand is. A good one shouldn't have any problem with a bit of moving, but I've seen some rickety stands being sold with the store branded tanks.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Furniture sliders, helped a friend move his, similar problem to yours.

 

[Amadeux]

Thank you! I got everything I need to move the tank tomorrow. Wish me luck!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Good luck, keep us posted on how it goes.

 

[AquamanE]

I’ve done it with a 120g. Home Depot furniture slides are awesome. Lower the water to just a few inches to bottom. Move tank then refill ASAP. Done. Now you can take your time filling in new tank.

 

[Amadeux]

{[FAIL]} First try was unsuccessful. I drained over 40 gallons from the tank into a 44 gallon Brute can. We tried to lift the tank + stand to put the furniture sliders under the feet but the weight was so much that we couldn't life it. The furniture sliders came with a tool to lift heavy furniture. However, no matter where I searched for the darn thing, I couldn't find it. I ended up refilling the tank back with water. I have to make sure I have the tool on hand before I try this again.

 

[Amadeux]

I wonder if I should also drain the sump.

 

[Dennis McGrath]

I will be upgrading my 65 g. tank + 15 g. sump to a Red Sea 535 XL Reefer. The kicker is that the new tank will have to be installed in the same spot as the old one.

I'm thinking about moving the old tank a few feet to make space for the new one. However, this may stress the current livestock more than what it should because I would have to put everything in containers, move the tank, reconnect everything, and put rocks and livestock back in the tank. When the new tank arrives, the process of transferring the rocks and livestock will again stress the system.

Can anyone please guide show me some guidelines on how I can accomplish this project or point me to a thread if someone has already done it before?

I get the new tank in about 2.5 weeks.

(Note: the chances of convincing my wife to put the new tank against a different wall in the living room are zero )

Divorce is ALWAYS an option... Might be easier.

 

[AquamanE]

I hope you didn’t try this alone. A 65 with 3-4 guys and drained 3/4 is the way should be easy to handle.

 

[AquamanE]

Repeat

 

[Amadeux]

This is the lifter that I have but couldn't find...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513ou6df4UL.jpg

 

[Amadeux]

Guess what?

 

[AquamanE]

Neat gadget. How much can it lift?

 

[Amadeux]

Neat gadget. How much can it lift?

Up to 525 lbs according to the manufacturer.

I am still not being able to try the move as I have been very busy this past few days. Will probably try again later this week.

 

[drtrash]

Getting ready for same, move it nto next room, would drain sump and tank 100%, rinse sand while removing water

 

[Amadeux]

Success! I was able to move the tank about 10 feet to the left of where it was originally with my wife's help.

1. Drained the tank until there was about 6 inches of water. It is a 65-gallon tank, so I drained almost 40 gallons to a 44-gallon Brute container.
2. Drained the sump to a separate 20-gallon Brute container. It only had about 10 gallons.
3. Used the lifting tool shown in the picture in a previous post to lift each side of the tank. My wife placed the furniture sliders when there was enough space to do so. I used a piece of wood as support for the tool because this could've easily cracked a tile if I didn't have it.
4. Unplugged Apex and arranged all the power cables out of the way.
5. Carefully slid the tank about one foot at a time. It was still very heavy!
6. I didn't care about lifting it again to remove the sliders, so I refilled the tank with water.

Right now, everything is ready for when I bring the new tank on Sunday. No livestock was affected by the draining/move.