How did you guys move your tank?

isseym328

isseym328

Premium Member
Hey everyone,

I'm going to be picking up my new 270 glass tank tomorrow, and having a hard time figuring out how to move it from my suv into the fish room. From online calculators, the tank will weight approximately 800 pounds.

My question is, in order to move it safely from the suv to the fish room (will have to go up a small set of stairs and two doors), is it enough to just have maybe 6-8 guys? Or should I use a dolly? Or hire movers? I want to make sure the tank doesn't get damaged in any way.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Best,
James
 
i did a 180 into a basement. It can be tricky. I had 4 guys on it with one just standing by ready in case anyone was loosing their grip or something were to go wrong. We actually had to flip mine up and over though as we went down stairs and it was tight. If you have a straight shot just up some stairs I would think you'd be ok. Just tell everyone to move slow and communicate. I wouldn't mess with a dolly, you may put unwanted pressure on weak points
 
Hey Earl,

Thanks for the info. So with my 270 if I just get 6-7 guys I should be able to do it. However I'm not sure if I can flip it like how your doing on the stairs. That would be quite heavy!
 
wel i had to flip it b/c the stairs were turned. We had to walk it in, they stand it up on it's side, then flip it down the stairs. Wasn't fun. I think when/if I move i'm hiring someone!
 
I am not sure where the 800lbs comes from, but I think that it will be considerably less than that, if it is empty. Hopefully that is the only way that you plan on moving this.

A 180 gallon tank weighs 338lbs empty, so even if you doubled that, I can't see it weighing 800lbs.

Of course, I could just be mis-informed

I guess it will be HEAVY regardless, so it will not make any difference in the end
 
I'm not sure exactly how heavy it's going to be either. On one site they said an empty 125 is around 200 pounds, and then a 300g is around 1000 pounds. This sounds like a big increase, but sounds about right since as you go up in size the glass gets thicker and total weight increases dramatically. I don't have the exactly calculation for it but maybe someone does and can reply.

There's a reefer that was able to move a 270 with 4 individuals. those 4 individuals must be buff. :D
 
Make sure you use glass suckers, it makes life incredibly easy.

If you have a trolley also this will help as everyone can rest until they are actually needed.

Around 12-14 people carried my 7x5x2.2 into my place with ease.
 
You should have no problem as long as everyone communicates. I actually moved my 135 all by myself, from the garage, up 2 stairs, through the hall about 20ft. down 6 stairs and another 25ft. I then got it up onto the stand, starting with one side. I know i'm crazy, but I couldn't get anyone to help me that day and I wanted it in. I used big movers blankets to slide it. It worked perfect.
 
More is not always better, I moved my 300 with 8 guys from a warehouse and it was a pain to get out compared to 4 at my house with a smaller doorway and that went much easier. Just be sure to get people who really intend to put forth effort to help lift as opposed to friends who just wanna give you mental support.
 
I highly doubt the 800lbs, unless the tank is made out of 1" glass.

We moved a 74" x 48" x 32" all 19mm glass. I would guess it was less than 800lbs, but close. I ended up having to make a pallet that was exactly 32" wide in order to fit the tank through doorways. Once the pallet was constructed, the tank was flipped on its side. A telehandler was used to pick up the tank and place it on 4 wheel carts inside the house.

P1020089.jpg


The overflow is external and on the end of one of the 48" panels, making it impossible to pickup and get through the doorways. The tank was wheeled into position, and jacks were used to get it to height.

P1020114.jpg
 
I moved a 300 gallon with four guys down 6 stairs and through 2 doors. I just took down that same 300 and me and my dad did it by our selves. he even moved it with a two wheeler by him self into the moving truck while i was away. He has been talkin Sh!t to me about it ever since. Have to give it to the guy tho. it is my tank. For your size I would say four guys and youll be fine. or use a two wheeler from a moving company. easiest would be if you had moving straps. then 2 guys could do it no problem. Also my tank was acrylic. The stand is what was very heavy. Did that with old school methods of leverage with rails.
 
Hey guys thanks for all of your responses. It was really helpful. So now I think 4 guys could do it, but unfortunately it will have to be w/o the help of 2-wheelers/vehicles since this is a condo that I'm moving the tank into. I def have the issue of a narrow doorway, twice at the entrance to the condo and again into the actual room where the tank will be set up. The trolley and the movers blanket sounds interesting, although I looked up prices for trolleys and they were quite expensive!
 
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When we moved my 200g marineland DD we used the handles glass movers use, the suction cup type they worked great and only took 3 people to move the tank with use of them

i know ebay has them as well as some places online, i don't think you'd be able to find these locally unless you know a glass supplier they might be able to help you
 
beeker thanks for the info! Hmm looks like I can't use them then if I want to move my tank into the room in a couple days. I will look harder locally!
 
Moved my 300 gallon deep deminsion Marineland tank with 6 guys. Marineland said it weighs approximately 600lbs. I would not advise using less than 4 normal size guys and 6 was better.
 
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