Aquarium Re-location

[mattmku]

I'm considering moving my 20 gallon tank up to school with me next semester but I'm not sure it is worth the trouble. I was thinking that if there was some way to leave the substrate and live rock in the tank for the move it would be much easier. Would it be possible to construct a base for under the tank that would enable me to leave these things in there. I would plan on leaving an inch or so of water and covering the LR with damp newspaper for the 5 hour drive. Using this method I would only have to remove my lone fish and the water. ????

[lando]

Moving a 20 gal. should not be too much trouble. I would not move it with tsand and rock in it. Put those in a rubbermaid tub or bucket. You do not want to take the change of cracking your tank or messing up the joints.

[RLG2182]

Is it a 20 Long or standard?

If you can support all 4 sides of the bottom and not rock it back and forth too much, it should be fine. I would wrap the LR with a wet towel... not only to keep it moist, but to also make sure that if it moves around, it doesn't break the glass or scratch it.

The idea is to have your hands on the base and move them both, NOT the tank itself. Lifting the tank by itself can put pressure on 2 sides alone, causing possible weak-points in the glass. The base can be just a 3/4 inch plywood with some kind of glued on lip to make sure the tank doesn't slide off it. An inch of water should be fine... but regardless, don't shake and bake it too much.

EDIT: Or get a rubbermaid.

[mattmku]

that is exactly what i planned on doing...thanks for the help...