What's the best way to move 150 gal glass tank?

[MTWiley]

Sorry if this is the wrong section.

I'm buying two tanks and a stand off of craigslist.

I checked them out Tuesday night and they both had water and fish in them. Top tank is a 150 gallon that's not drilled glass tank that's 72x20x24 and the bottom is a 50 gallon drilled acrylic tank that he listed the dimenstions on but I can't remember them right now.

He drained them last night and washed all the gravel and put it in bags, disassembled all the plumbing and cleaned it all up for me. I'm supposed to go pick it up this afternoon, and I conned my brother into bringing his vehicle as well since it's about a 40 minute drive that I don't want to have to make twice. I have a truck with a bed/tailgate that's long enough to hold the bigger tank and maybe the stand. I've got some ratchet straps to tie it down, and some towels/rags that I was going to try to pad the truck bed and any places where the tank/stand/straps might be touching in my truck bed. I've moved other tanks before, but nothing this big, do you guys have any suggestions on how to move it safely?

 

[neilanh]

It sounds like you've got it pretty much covered. Ive moved a 125g 6' glass tank with much less preparation than this.

Just make sure you have enough bodies to lift and move the tank and get it situated in the truck. Placing a tarp over it will also help keep contaminants out and flying road debris from making direct impact/scratching it.

I wouldn't ratchet strap it down, you don't want to risk putting torque on the tank that can cause the seals to be stressed.

 

[MTWiley]

Thanks, I was just going to use the ratchet straps to keep it from flying out of the back of my truck bed. I have to leave the tailgate down since the tank slightly longer than my truck bed.

 

[Dary421]

I'd strongly recommend sliding a sheet of plywood into the back of the pickup and then sliding the tank on top of that,...itll greatly reduce the vibrations and general shock to the tank.

 

[MTWiley]

Thanks, I'll see if I can't find a sheet of plywood in my garage that will fit.

 

[BigJim]

You'll need a hand truck, blanket, ratchet straps, and a truck.

Put the blanket on the hand truck and use that to move the tank. Ratchet strap it well into the truck and use a couple straps for redundancy.

My brother and I moved a glass 250g in my Ranger this way.

 

[Dary421]

And the most important part of this whole endevor will be that nice ice cold frosty beer after you finally get it home! I might just join you!!! Congrads on your new tank!!!!!!

 

[MTWiley]

Thanks BigJim I'll make sure to grab a dolly from the garage before I go.

Thanks Dary I've got a few in the fridge that I've been saving for a special occasion, and this seems like it might just be one of those special occasions seeing as the whole set up is only costing me $350 for both tanks, the stand, filter media, sump, pump, lights, and the heaters.

 

[Dary421]

Sounds like a righteous buy,.....enjoy the moment!!!!!

 

[torosax]

I'm jealous!!! $350 for all of that?!?! Wow!!

 

[MTWiley]

Yep, I had to jump at the offer, drove out there tuesday night after work to go check it out, everything looked good and it was full of water and fish when I got there, so I didn't have to ask him if we could run a leak test before I paid. Just got back from picking it up tonight, everything went off without a hitch so far.

Thanks again guys for all the advice, we were able to move it without any incidents so far. Nothing broke or cracked in transit, but we haven't filled the tanks yet, so I can't know for sure that there wont be an issue, but so far it's looking great.

We're going to use it kind of like a room divider for now, but the back was painted black so we can't really view it from both sides. I'm going to be doing some touch up on the stand and put some doors/paneling on the of the stand to make it look a bit nicer from the other room. I was also thinking of putting a couple of small shelves in the side to keep our extra supplies in.

 

[torosax]

Very nice dude!! What kinda system you setting up?

 

[MTWiley]

Very nice dude!! What kinda system you setting up?

Thanks, I'm putting a lot of work/research into it and have been refinishing the stand when I've had free time to make sure I do as much as possible right the first time. In the end I'd like it to be a a mixed reef setup.

 

[torosax]

Good idea man! Trust me, it sucks adding and changing things down the road.. I've had my 90 set up for almost three years and just put in a sump/refugium last month.. talk about WORK! Ended up losing like 6 out of my 8 fish as well as a couple inverts because of it..

Mine's doing well now though.. got a mixed reef too.. meeting up with someone tomorrow to go through some frags and get my coral stock up again. Right now I've got 4 SPS, 1 LPS and a bunch of Gr. Button Polyps.. So, not too exciting looking just yet.. but soon hopefully!

YouTube - My 90 Gallon Reef Tank - Updates/transitions

vid of my tank if you're interested..