Thought it might be helpful to give the how-to on this one.
We had carpet with pad. We went to laminate flooring. Tank, corner quarter cylinder, is 5/8" glass with oak stand and canopy, reef 105 gallon. Workforce: 2 women (ahem) somewhat over 50.
What you see: a plywood subfloor, (this is a 1/4" sheeting we put down to even out a mismatch with hallway).
Step one: drain tank to 8", put corals in Rubbermaid Brute and bucket, depending on size, with rock. Remove rock that can be moved (base rocks mostly under sandbed we didn't want to stir). Used a 1" Eheim and 10' of hose. Fish---including 4.5" dascyllus damsel, left in tank.
Step two We had left large teflon glides under the tank on setup: these were useful. We did find, however, that a stout dolly could lift a corner of the tank to slip glides under if you have no glides there. A third person to stabilize the tank would have been useful, but we survived. Slide tank off carpet and onto plywood. The tank moved nicely.
Step three pump water back in and set corals into the water. Used a bubbler to keep circulation going.
step four finish the laminate along the whole strip where the tank will set: this also involved a piano, a 50 gallon tank (same operation) and an entertainment unit, so it took a bit. You want that laminate to be as locked as possible, so it won't crunch up, and I also cut some 1/4 plywood buffer strips to be sure laminate didn't slide in under the wall edge and stayed straight. (A laminate floor floats, and the whole thing can skew.) This took about four hours.
step five drain tank as before
step six use dolly to lift tank to exchange teflon glides for felt glides of sturdy sort.
step seven lay plywood sheet half onto laminate and screw the other side of the laminate to the subfloor, being absolutely sure that sucker won't slip. We stuck a sacrificial laminate plank under the edge so that if it crunched, it was replaceable. The laminate in question, btw, was Home Depot's own brand, which taps into place with a small block and at no point slides freely, so it's pretty steadily locked down.
step eight Shove the tank up the 'ramp' thus constructed and across the laminate to its new home. Stop to reconnect its hoses (basement sump).
step five put rock in, put water back, settle corals in, put canopy back on, and let 'er run! Total time--- a day's work, no damage, no death.
This is a photo of the ramp and tank just after we'd slid it onto the new laminate.
We had carpet with pad. We went to laminate flooring. Tank, corner quarter cylinder, is 5/8" glass with oak stand and canopy, reef 105 gallon. Workforce: 2 women (ahem) somewhat over 50.
What you see: a plywood subfloor, (this is a 1/4" sheeting we put down to even out a mismatch with hallway).
Step one: drain tank to 8", put corals in Rubbermaid Brute and bucket, depending on size, with rock. Remove rock that can be moved (base rocks mostly under sandbed we didn't want to stir). Used a 1" Eheim and 10' of hose. Fish---including 4.5" dascyllus damsel, left in tank.
Step two We had left large teflon glides under the tank on setup: these were useful. We did find, however, that a stout dolly could lift a corner of the tank to slip glides under if you have no glides there. A third person to stabilize the tank would have been useful, but we survived. Slide tank off carpet and onto plywood. The tank moved nicely.
Step three pump water back in and set corals into the water. Used a bubbler to keep circulation going.
step four finish the laminate along the whole strip where the tank will set: this also involved a piano, a 50 gallon tank (same operation) and an entertainment unit, so it took a bit. You want that laminate to be as locked as possible, so it won't crunch up, and I also cut some 1/4 plywood buffer strips to be sure laminate didn't slide in under the wall edge and stayed straight. (A laminate floor floats, and the whole thing can skew.) This took about four hours.
step five drain tank as before
step six use dolly to lift tank to exchange teflon glides for felt glides of sturdy sort.
step seven lay plywood sheet half onto laminate and screw the other side of the laminate to the subfloor, being absolutely sure that sucker won't slip. We stuck a sacrificial laminate plank under the edge so that if it crunched, it was replaceable. The laminate in question, btw, was Home Depot's own brand, which taps into place with a small block and at no point slides freely, so it's pretty steadily locked down.
step eight Shove the tank up the 'ramp' thus constructed and across the laminate to its new home. Stop to reconnect its hoses (basement sump).
step five put rock in, put water back, settle corals in, put canopy back on, and let 'er run! Total time--- a day's work, no damage, no death.
This is a photo of the ramp and tank just after we'd slid it onto the new laminate.
Last edited:
