How-to question... putting my tank on its stand.

[lanman]

It looks like I will have enough people available on Thanksgiving day to put my 240-gallon tank on its stand. It weighs 600 pounds. Anyone have suggestions for making it easier? If I try to 'slide' it on the foam, I'm sure it will rip up the foam, crush it prematurely, etc. Can I put anything on there to make it easier to move around to the right place before we put it down? Like a piece of plywood or something?

 

Also - how to keep from having someone's fingers crushed?? If I get one end set down... and slowly lower the other end - is everyone going to have to pull their hands out on 1-2-3; and hope nobody is too slow?

 

Thanks for any experience, suggestions, etc.

 

bob

[vaironman]

Bob,

 

Put multiple 2x4 across your stand. Use three or four and spread them out evenly. When everyone picks up your tank, try to place on top of the first 2x4 on the stand.

 

- The first two persons where the corner just got drop down will then use the 2x4 to pick up the front end of the tank and all (everybody) will move the tank to the next 2x4, then slide the 2x4 back to the rear.

 

- Repeat the step above.

 

The two persons at the end of the tank will put in the most efforts since they have to hangon the tank all the time, no break.

 

I saw Dandy7200 new 400 gallon tank and it has a cushion underneath also. May be he can show us how to do it right.

 

KLee

[davelin315]

Hey Bob, a lot depends on how smooth the bottom of your tank is. I was able to put my entire tank onto my stand by myself, but it's acrylic and so is much lighter. The bottom is very smooth and has no seams so it was pretty much a get it on the top and then slide it over. I would not, however, suggest this with a glass tank. If you need to, you could always use some heavy duty straps and use that to lift it up. I would not use any of the bracing to lift this, though, and I would also suggest using some boards to pick it up as was suggested. All tanks have a limited shelf life on moves, especially larger heavier tanks. It's much harder to see if a glass tank has a stressed seam than an acrylic one so it demands a little bit more care in moving it. If you have some rollers, you may want to even consider using them to roll the tank into position. You can then lift either end and put it down. I wouldn't worry about compressing the foam, it is only necessary to have it around the edges as that is where a glass tank needs support.

[Leishman]

Tape the styro to the stand and cut off visible tape after you slide it on. My tank is 65x36x25 from GC and I had no issues doing it this way.

[dbartco]

We slid it off the foam no problem. Agree with Rik.

[dandy7200]

I used contact cement to glue down the foam board. Then strips of plywood on that to prevent finger crush:

 

 

 

 

...and ten strong men

 

it's easy to remove the strips after the tank is in place. HTH

[Rascal]

Tape the styro to the stand and cut off visible tape after you slide it on. My tank is 65x36x25 from GC and I had no issues doing it this way.

 

 

We slid it off the foam no problem. Agree with Rik.

 

Same here except I glued the foam down and then trimmed the excess once the tank was in place.

[lanman]

Thanks for the advice... going to get the plywood strips set up now. And check with the neighbors on the other side; 10 would be better than 8.

 

Thanks again!

bob