Moving Tank?

[tomreefer]

I have a 75 gallon tank with some fish, starfish, and some corals. I want to move it to another room. I do have furniture movers. Should I empty all the water out and rock? Any suggestions?

 

[xCry0x]

I mean.. good luck moving the tank without emptying it -- that is likely ~500 pounds of water + rock and sand.

Moving a tank typically means draining it into buckets, moving the tank, then refilling it.

I know my 66g glass tank was fairly heavy for 2 people to move when empty.

 

[tomreefer]

I am going to empty it, but should I also remove the rock? I am more concerned about the brittle star.

 

[ssick92]

I am going to empty it, but should I also remove the rock? I am more concerned about the brittle star.

You don't necessarily need to remove the rock, but will make it significantly lighter and easier to move. Even my 30g when drained (still w/ rock & sand) was quite heavy for 2 people to move as it was upwards of 100lbs. Your 75g is probably close to 250lbs even when drained (assuming 75lbs LR, 75 lbs LS, some remaining water, and tank weight)...

 

[kaz1961]

I just upgraded from a 75 to a 150. The 150 was going where the 75 was so the 75 had to be moved. We left the rock in place and took out water until we could lift the stand. We then lifted one side and put furniture sliders under it. We lifted the other side and put slider there also. We were able to easily slide the tank across a laminate floor to its new position.

 

[hanas]

You could definitely leave the sand and the rock, I would just be concerned about the rock falling (assuming you have it stacked) and that resulting in scratching, or even worse, chipping the glass. Nothing is worse than a scratch on one of the viewing sides.

 

[tomreefer]

Ok yeah was tough to move; I almost removed all the water and used furniture sliders. I used the tool that came with the sliders that came in handy and a life saver. Now I have to add more saltwater tm. Right now I just have 2 circulations pumps on that will be ok till tm correct?

 

[ssick92]

Ok yeah was tough to move; I almost removed all the water and used furniture sliders. I used the tool that came with the sliders that came in handy and a life saver. Now I have to add more saltwater tm. Right now I just have 2 circulations pumps on that will be ok till tm correct?

Are your corals still in the water? As long as all the livestock you want to survive is in the water then you should be alright until tomorrow. Try to keep any part of rock that is out of the water wet though, otherwise you will have some dieoff and a mini-cycle once you fill it back up.