too make a long story short...

[scott711]

I had a great trip to hawaii. I did some diving, snorkeling and took lots of pics that I will post later.

 

I left my tank in the hands of a neighbor and when I cam home everything was ok. The one thing that did happen was that my kalk drip setup tube came off of the sump and dripped on the floor at a rate of 80 ml/hour for a couple of days. Anyway, my carpet around my tank is wet and I think I need to move my tank to make sure the carpet is dry. I have several questions for anyone who has done this:

 

It is a 38 gallon tank, do I have to empty all the water and take everything out just to move it to another room or can I just take some of the water out, leave all the inhabitants in there and move it to the room?

 

Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated. My wife is breathing down my neck to get this done soon:)

 

On a side note, I thought I would drill the tank so I can take out the overflow box. I will add more to this later.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Scott

[Guest clownfish4]

I would fully empty the tank. You definately don't want to move it with rock in it for fear of one slipping and going through the glass. I also wouldn't move it with water or any weight in it because it is designed to disperse the weight over the entire perimeter of the bottom and picking it up puts a lot of stress on the tank itself.

[miller]

if your looking to drill it anyway why not empty it drill it and move it all at once

[scott711]

I was hoping not to have to break it down all the way, but it looks like I may have too.

 

Would puting it on a moving dolly be any different? (can you tell I am being lazy? )

[davelin315]

I moved a 15 gallon set up at the beginning of the summer. I drained the water out all the way down to the substrate (around 3" substrate average - southdown sand), leaving about 1/4" of water in the bottom. I also had about 30 lbs of rock in it. I left all of the livestock in there (no fish, but snails, crabs, a shrimp, and donated corals - look at the Floris Reef Tank thread if you want to see the set up) and picked it up, put it on a moving cart that had a stable surface, then moved it to a new location and poured the water back in (I saved all of it) and there was no harm. I, too, was concerned about the pressure on the bottom, but as long as you don't shift it around a lot, you won't cause it any problems (as long as your tank is not too old). I would suggest that you keep it on a flat board when you put it down and not directly on the dolly.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions about it. Again, just an opinion, and a 15 is smaller than yours, but I don't think you have too much to worry about as long as you keep it stable.

[Guest Pandora]

Welcome back, Scott. Glad you had a good time. I left you a PM, re: you & Sheryl eating out with us this Sunday, let me know...

 

Too bad I didn't catch the kalk leak when I was over! Is that why the tank move? BTW, it was looking great last I saw it... hope the move is uneventful...

 

From a few moves myself I'll just say... separate out your corals as much as possible. A lot of times once stuff closes up, you forget where the corals grow, and sometimes can accidentally rearrange upside down by accident when you put them in the new location. If you need extra buckets please let me know, I have quite a few of the big HD ones.

 

My tank disaster is slowly coming under control, got some new livestock, some of which are generous donations from WAMAS members... thanks to all for your support! Just did a water change today and though I miss some of the large & rare pc's I lost, this is getting to be a hobby I enjoy again... BTW, I ended up buying a generator...

 

Hope you guys are doing well, give me a call sometime, would love to see HI pics!

Edited August 13, 2005 by Pandora

[mogurnda]

Hey Scott,

 

Glad to hear the livestock survived the vacation. Bummer about the kalk on the floor, though.

 

I have an extra 20 gallon, 2X65 PC, pumps, a bakpak, and some other odds and ends if you need to set up an extra holding tank.

 

If it were my tank, I might try mostly draining it and moving it by lifting the stand. On the other hand, I wouldn't advise it to someone else

[scott711]

update:

 

Yesterday I drained the tank till about a few inches were left for my fish and with the help of Tim (thanks a lot!) we lifted it up with the stand and put it on a homemade dolly. I set everything back up in the new location and things looked good.

 

Thanks to all for the advice and help!

 

Scott

[Folta]

Not a problem! That tank was definitely easier to lift than I was expecting, and your homemade dolly made moving it very easy.

 

Thanks for the blue shroom pieces! I took a couple pics when I put them in my tank, and will take some more in a week. They should grow back pretty nicely.