Moving downstairs

[cplawrence]

I am moving my 29 gal into the basement. In the article on this site (http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=28), it is mentioned that the tank should never be moved empty. Given that it is a smaller tank and a short move, would it be acceptable to move it with the sand bed in the tank and just enough water to cover it?
Thank you,
Chris

 

[Agnate80700]

the smiley emoticon ate the end of the URL to the other post, but why would it be bad to move a tank empty? It sure as hell cant be moved full lol (unless your The Hulk, Superman, Optimus Prime or Chuck Norris)

I doubt the critters are going to care if there are in if they get jostled around a little, they'd get the same treatment if a fish tried to sift around near them.

Put all your fish/critters in the plastic moving baggies, rocks in a tub, and most of the water in 5-gallon buckets, you should be fine moving the tank with a little water and the sand left in it. Maybe someone else can chime in and provide reasons otherwise, but thats my thinking.

 

[boges_au2006]

yeah i dont understand the whole cant move empty either.
i moved a 5ft tank that was full of fish and rock and substrate over 1 hour away and i did it by emptying it completely out. taking the water in about 4 seperate bins and what not. but i had no troubles with the tank being empty.

 

[melosu58]

There is no reason why the tank cant be empty. IMO you should remove the rocks fish corals and water as much as possible and move downstairs. I would also remove the sand and start over with new sand as the old sand will be very nasty. Clean your tank while it is empty , add new sand and seed some of the old sand with it and then put everything back in. You should not have any cycle because your LR is already cure. This is what I would do if it was me but maybe someone else has a different idea.

 

[cplawrence]

My apologies, that was a bad typo. I meant that it should always be moved empty. I realize that it cannot be moved when full, but I wondered if it would be acceptable to move with the sand bed still in the tank. It sounds like it would be a bad idea for reasons other than structural integrity, though.

FWIW, here is the link and the relevant statement:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=28

(The 8 and the ) got turned into an emoticon.....)

Aquariums should NEVER be moved with any amount of water or substrate in them as they will be quite heavy and you can risk injury to yourself or damage to the aquarium from the shifting weight. Always move your aquarium when its empty of water and substrate.

 

[tecwzrd]

An empty 29 gal tank weighs around 40 lbs and with 30+ lbs of sand and 3-5 gal of water to cover it your getting up to around 100+ lbs to move going down stairs.

Personally it's not a risk I'd be willing to make even with two people moving it but structurally I feel a 29 gal can handle the minor stress without breaking.

I also agree with melosu58 that depending on how long the tank has been up it would probably be best to start with new sand anyways. If tank has been setup less then 8 months IMO it's not an issue.

 

[An t-iasg]

Good luck moving your tank! I have to move to a new house in a month or two, so I have to move 4 tanks.

For future reference there is a clickbox under the reply box (not in quick reply) that says "disable smilies in this post". Click there to prevent the combination of numbers and characters from being turned into an emoticon for that particular post.

 

[cplawrence]

It has been going for nearly two years--new sand it is; thanks for the help!

For future reference there is a clickbox under the reply box (not in quick reply) that says "disable smilies in this post". Click there to prevent the combination of numbers and characters from being turned into an emoticon for that particular post.

Thanks for the pointer (I meant for this one to be here).

 

[melosu58]

It has been going for nearly two years--new sand it is; thanks for the help!

You`ll be glad you did when you see how nasty the old sand is. Good luck on the move.

 

[tecwzrd]

I would transfer a couple of cups of your old sand (from the top 1"-2") to the new sand though, the nasty stuff is usually contained towards the bottom. That will give your new sand a jump start for new life.