Advice for upgrading to 120 gal from 75 gal tank

[Katrinag]

Hi, I am moving in the near future and will upgrade to a larger tank. I currently have a planted 75 gal community freshwater tank that has been running well for a couple years now. I want to get a 120 gal marineland glass tank with a Fluval fx4 filter. I started looking at the weight, size etc and wonder if there is any advice on what problems may occur going to this larger tank etc. my thoughts were it should be similiar to the 75 gallon. Any advice or insight as to what I should prepare for or be aware of going to this larger tank? Thank you for any advice.

 

[max h]

If the house is single story with concrete slab construction no problem. If it has crawl space underneath or the tank is going upstairs find someone who knows about the weight bearing loads of the floors and the direction the support stringers run. A 120 will weigh in filled at over 1100 pounds. If you are moving the 75 over too it can make the switch easier and not seemed rushed. I just recently went from a 55 to a 110. I took my time to paint the back glass, research the substrate and wash it. Find lights I wanted for a good price and an easy cheap mounting system for the wood canopy. And then up graded the heaters. The biggest problem I had was the 110 was to go into the same location that the 55 was in. On the day of the move I used one of my extra canister filters to pump out most of the water from the 55 into a very large cooler that had never had any chemicals in it. My neighbor came over to assist moving the 55 a few feet to another wall with fish and plants still in it. I started refilling that tank with the filter from the cooler, while that was going on we set the stand up and mounted the 110 on the stand. That took about 30 minutes of his time. Added the pre-washed substrate, added SeaChem Prime, and filled with water. I then plugged in my extra filter, the next day plants, fish, and the other large canister pump where added from the 55. The canister filter on the 55 was rated for a 100 gallon system.

 

[aseradyn]

A glass tank that big is very heavy to move around (~200 lbs bone dry), so make sure you have a strong friend or two to help A rolling table or cart is a nice assist, so you don't have to hold the weight for long.

At 24" high and 24" deep, it's also quite a stretch for short people like me to work at the back/bottom part of the tank. I relied a lot more on tools with my 120 than I have with any other tank. Step ladders, grabbing tools, nets...

Loved the tank, though. If it wasn't such a PIA to move it even an inch, I'd get it again in a hearbeat.

 

[coralbandit]

If possible get new filter before the move and let it cycle on the 75.
If you can set up the new tank first even better ,but if not the filter will help.
Moving big tanks is tough but yours will be new so no major PIA....Just remember the pain as you dismantle the 75.....
ENJOY!
Hope to welcome you to the 6' club soon!