best way to move

[Fishywishy]

55gal...completely set up w/stand...12 fishes and live plants

One thing led to another, I've got to move my tank to the other side of the room for a couple of days, then move it back.

Any suggestions to do this without disrupting the cycle completly or killing fish or plants?

husband suggested empty 50% of water then getting some rods and lifting just one end and rolling it moving a rod from behind to infront (ancient wheel theory is best discription)...I see disatrous results in that......I don't have another tank big enough to tank these fish for a few days.

 

[FishGeek]

Why do you have to move it and then move it back??? Sry to ask but it just sounds weird.

 

[JWright]

Don't ever try to move a tank with water in it. Even if you drain it halfway, you're talking about 200+ pounds shifting around in your tank. The silicon seals were not designed to take that kind of uneven weight.

 

[MissFishy]

No, I wouldn't try husband's idea, JWright is right about the seals. I would get some large water containers and drain almost all of the tank water into the buckets leaving only enough to keep the gravel at the bottom wet, put the fish in the buckets, then manually move the tank with only the gravel in it, no rocks or decorations, make it as light as possible. Once on the other side of the room, dump the old water back into the tank along with the fish, set up your filter and everything for the time you need it there, then repeat the process when you need to move it back. You're going to need some strong people to move that tank, get all the help you can get.

 

[Fishywishy]

I have to move it because I live next to hillbillies.......errr....because I have to repaint my living room and if you've ever repainted an open floor plan house, you would know this requires you to repaint 50% of your house. I don't want to move it out of the room because it's the best ventilated area in the house. I like they way I had it, I arranged all the other furniture around it, which is why I'll be wanting to move it back.

Now, you're gonna ask about living next to hillbillies causing me to paint the inside of my house. I'm replacing the siding and a window too! Let's just say it involved 5 kids aged 11 to 16 (either homeschooled or foster), one mother busy with 6 kids under the age of 3 (foster kids), a "modified potato gun", a baseball, shotgun powder, police and an ambulance. It ended with a hole in the side of my house all the way through, 6 stitches, a broken picture window and no arrests. (I should explain that hillbillies in my dictionary is anyone who has qualified for the darwin award more then once...a week)

I'm thinking that my cheapest easiest way to move them is just buy another 55g fishtank, move the stuff from one fish tank to another put the fish in. Move the original fishtank, paint then reverse the process to put them back where I had them?? I was just hoping for a simple solution I was missing, considering I'm not wanting to move it far....even 8 inches out from the wall would work. I wasn't wanting to do another fishtank, yet this is going to be the end result... I can see it coming, but it's the only solution I can think of atm to minimize fish loss/stress, keep the plants alive, and not have to do a complete re-cycle on the fish tank (considering it now has fish in it).

 

[FishGeek]

Well thats sounds like a good idea. And OMG I cant believe that story. WOW!!! And just think you will get to have fun filling another tank when this is all over.

 

[nealio]

I really want to hear that story now!!!

Take it from the top!

 

[Seleya]

Never move a fishtank over 24" long with anything in it, including substrate. The slightest twist could crack your tank. Depending on how long you expect painting and renovations to take, you may just want to set up a few rubbermaid containers:

1. move your filter over to the container with the fish in it (if you need more than one container for fish, put an airstone in each container) DO NOT feed the fish! I also put my plants and driftwood, etc in with the fish to make them more comfortable. Depending on what types of fish you have, you should probably cover the containers with fish in them.

2. empty your gravel into another container or two and keep it wet. [Only if it's for more than a couple of days, spread your gravel a little more between containers so anerobic spots don't start to build (keep it wet, don't "drown" it -- no more than 3" or so of water if that), run airstones and "feed" the gravel a little fish food to keep the beneficial bacteria happy.]

3. move your tank (totally empty) and get whatever needs to be done *done* and do that area first so the disruption is as brief as possible.

4. move the tank back and pop the fish back in, being careful to dechlor the water before it hits your gravel and keep a close eye on your tank for the next couple of weeks for a possible minicycle.

Tho I like the 'get a second tank' idea better.

 

[Mahamotorworks]

Ya I am interested in the Whole story. But Ya buying a 2nd tank would be the best.

MAHA

 

[Fuzz16]

2 tanks=yay!

 

[tropicalfish]

If you can go to home depot and get like 5 or more 5 gallon buckets, or get a large Sterlite or Rubbermaid container, siphon some water in to the bucket or container, and put some fish in.. Slowly do this over and over again to prevent stressing the fish. I recommend the large container because of water heating issues. After you get it all into the large container, you can take out the substrate stuff and put it into a 5 gallon bucket or something, but keep water in there.. DO NOT add tap water, you will kill your bacteria. Put your heater and filter in the big container and turn it on. Only then can you slowly move your gigantic tank.

 

[Steph_D]

I had to do the same thing a while back so that we could cut a hole in the wall and get to our shower's water lines. I took everything out. Put the plants in buckets, they melted a little, but came back fairly well. The fish went into rubbermaid tubs with heaters. The substrate also went into buckets. My husband and I couldn't get the 55g tank to budge with even just the gravel in. It was hard work, but worth it to be able to take a shower again, LOL.

I'd also like to hear the potato gun story, sounds interesting.

 

[Fishywishy]

I live in this nice quiet neighborhood/subdivision. The person who actually owns the house is a doctor and he rents it out. The people currently living there are a mother, father and there 3 children. They home school their kids "to save them for the Lord All Mighty" (the mother's words, not mine). They take on foster kids, I assume they have the max number of foster kids that a couple can take on in a 3 bedroom house when they already have 3 kids, because there are usually about a total of 10 to 12 kids running around at any given time.

I would like to say upfront that I find nothing wrong with homeschooling or fostering kids, great for you if you can do a better job at making your own kids ready for the world from home then what a public school can do (and really want to spend every waking moment with your kids). Fostering kids is a wonderful way to give back to the community. Maybe, fostering tons of kids and homeschooling doesn't mix though, just my opinion.

On this particular day, the older boys (aged 11 and up) came up with the brilliant idea to build this contraption to make a baseball throw as fast as a professional baseball pitcher. I am not clear on what they made, but the police described it as a modified potato gun, using gun shot powder to increase the force. They put the baseball in, and fired it out not too clear on details of how or can figure out "what could they possibly be thinking".

I was down in the basement doing laundry when I heard this loud bang and things rattling upstairs. So, I went upstairs, my labs were looking out the window. I walked outside thinking that a branch or something had fallen against the house, but didn't see anything. Had I looked at my siding, I would have seen a baseball lodged in the side, kids no where to be seen (hiding).

So, these darwin award winners, decided they had too much force, took it back into their garage and instead of putting less gun powder, they put more gun powder. They then shot at the side of their garage, from the inside. Which preceeded to send the baseball through a window in their garage, through the side of my house, hit me on the arm, and out my picture window, which shattered and a piece came down and sliced me in the face. I was sure my arm was broken that's how hard it hit after coming through a wall. However, luckily the arm wasn't broke, but my top half of my arm is black and blue and swollen and luckily I had been standing (walking) at that particular moment where I was, because it would have hit the fish tank (I wouldn't have the worries of moving it), and most luckily my kids weren't home (at school) and it didn't hit one of them or the dogs or all the other places it could have it me....etc. (they could've hit my cat though..that would've been better jk)

That's the police version, I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to why they were really trying to shoot something at a high volocity, and why at my house TWICE (maybe it's those repeated complaints and calls to social services and animal control about their kids and dog) I'll let you also draw your own conclusions about how the mother didn't seem to know what was going on then suddenly said they were working on a "school project", or why/where they got shot gun powder to begin with......and well you can work out the situation when you've got 3 home schooled teens mixed with a couple of foster teenagers. I'm always going to wonder what they were really planning on doing with their gun, besides dent my house up, however I think actually sending the ball through the side of my house was not their intentions, nor hitting me with the baseball was part of the plan. I think there were no arrests, because the police didn't have proof that it wasn't just what the mother said of "an experiment gone wrong".

ANYWAY...

I'm considering the bucket method, but I was thinking more of one of those great big rubbermaid containers that are like almost half the size of a 55 gal (you know the really huge ones that you could stick a couple of king size comfortors in) I'm wondering if it would be sturdy enough to hold water to it's capacity (the rocks and stuff I could put in the 5 gal containers).

 

[Seleya]

Wow..... some people's children.....

I would be very nervous about using the Rubbermaid storage bins to their brims. If you decide to go this route, fill them slowly and keep a close eye on them. You can also use Brute trash barrels.

 

[Mahamotorworks]

WOW. That sucks did you get photos? I would like ot see the hole on the wall. I would really think about moving. They are really lucky that the whole thing didnt blow up. I reload shotgun shells and that is a lot of force on a "modified potatoe gun".

Good luck with the move. If you can find a rubbemaid that a HOB filter will hang over the side. then you can still have filtration while you are Painting. I would cover the bin with plastic before you paint, you really dont want to get any in there.

MAHA

 

[Lotus]

Sorry to hear about your neighbor problems.

If it were me, I'd do as much of the rest of the room as possible, then only move the tank out for a day. I usually put everything in a large rubbermaid (fish, water, decorations) while I do whatever needs to be done. Remember to keep the gravel wet and keep water flowing through the filter, if possible. Is there any way you can just move them for the day while you paint that one wall?