Ideas on how to move tank & stand away from wall

[ianrwesley]

Hoping someone has some ideas that may save me from draining most of my 220 gallon tank to move it.

I've noticed significant salt creep on one of my bulkheads which means it is leaking. I had similar problems with another bulkhead and was able to tighten it. The challenge with the one is it's unreachable behind my tank.

Does anyone have an novel ideas on how to move my tank out from the wall 12-18" (and then get it back in place) so I can get behind and tighten the bulkhead? The tank is on a very sturdy wooden stand with an all plywood flat bottom on top of ceramic tile.

Thanks for any and all advice! I would love to avoid disturbing the inhabitants by draining most of the water out of the tank.

 

[mcgyvr]

And Id love the winning lottery numbers..

 

[Bpb]

Drain it. No way around that. Your problem is a 220 and stand are absurdly heavy. So that rock and wet sand will add several hundred pounds to an already nearly immovable object. Hope it's not an old mature tank


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[Daddi0]

You could hire a plumber to tighten it (most of us have special tools to get into really tight spaces). You could also open the wall behind your reef from the backside to get access?
Cheers! Mark

 

[ianrwesley]

Yes, I'm hoping for a miracle here... Maybe it's not a bad idea to reach out to a plumber or see if they can do anything.

If anyone has advice on a tool that would work to tighten a bulkhead in the middle of an external overflow on the back of the tank with about 5-6" working space I'd love to hear about it!

Tank is 6 years old so not sure if that makes the cut as a mature established tank given some of the ones I've seen here...

-Ian

 

[Bpb]

Lol yeah 6 years is definitely mature. I'd open the wall up behind it if it was really a problem. My tank is also 6 years old and I've had a slow leak at my bulkheads also. So slow that I only know about it from the salt creep. Never actually see water


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[Daddi0]

Can you get a Basin wrench up there?
https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-use-a-basin-wrench-2718720

 

[FSJGUY]

Why not just lather some silicone or rtv around it agter you wipe it down

 

[Fourstars]

Maybe a crowfoot wrench if you can fine one large enough. Or go through the wall as others have suggested.

https://www.tools-giant.com/pic/st_540_fot_012.jpg

 

[FullBoreReefer]

Drain it, get a handful of people to help lift/slide it. Have tools/etc ready to go. No waiting around looking for things.

Drain it
Slide it out
Do your repair
Slide it back
Fill it up

Draining a tank for a half hour isn’t ideal, but isn’t the end of the world, it’ll be fine IMO.

Or, as other said, if you’re totally against it, open up the wall.

 

[Kevin Guthrie]

And smear some Vaseline on both sides of the bulkhead washer this time.

 

[ianrwesley]

Just an update for everyone who posted...

I was able to get the tank off the wall 12-18". I removed sump and all equipment from below the tank. I also drained 2/3 of water from aquarium. After all that I used a jack and large board to jack the stand away from the wall. To put it back I used 4x4 braced against the opposite wall.

Having built the tank stand myself I knew it was built like a tank and should be able to take the pressure from the jack. It over-engineered with about 16 2x4s vertically and 2x6s for the top frame. The bottom is a solid piece of plywood. The think didn't even creak when I was moving it!

Don't think I'd try this with a store bought stand but it did work for me!

 

[gord 23]

easiest way

easiest way

Get a few plastic garbage containers. Maybe 5 @about 40 gallons each. When done donate them.