question on moving a 300 gallon tank

[irmandanny]

Hi my name is Irma and we will be attempting to move a 300 gallon tank that is 7'6" long and 3'6" high 2'6" wide it has live rock and sand and we will be attempting to keep at least half the water if not all....i have not done this before and couldn't find movers who could help so any advice on this would be great. :) thank you

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Congrats. Ive moved a 180 and 210. The more hands the better. At least 8 guys.
Keeping the water should be interesting. You will need thirty 5 gallon buckets. Remember 8lbs for 1 gallon of water.
You have a dream tank. congrats. Move it right the 1st time. Personally, I would skip moving the water.
Remember just a little bit of sand in an 8ft tank will add a lot of weight. Get everything out.
How thick is the glass on the bottom and the sides? 42 inches tall very nice and thirty inches wide phew

I can volunteer sunday, tuesday, and wed lmk I have a Dodge 1500 to help move some items.

[Chuntaro]

PM SENT

OHHH AND WELCOME TO MAAST !!!!

[irmandanny]

There are a few fish in the tank so that was my reason for wanting to keep the water cause everything I have read said I should for the health of the fish and live rock....so they would be ok if we set them up in freshly mixed water? And wow that's great if you wanna help we have about 6 people maybe that will be able to help saturday or sunday, still trying to find out where to rent a flat bed dolly and were thinking a uhaul would be best to move everything cause with the stand tank cover and the 75 gallon sump it's alot to move and my car is not big enough btw if your serious about helping we're buying pizza & beer for everyone afterwards ;) thanks again for the info.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Unfortunately I work saturdays. I have sunday off. And yes I volunteer when I can. I would love to help with this tank.

You didnt say anything about fish. lol Do you have the capabilities to setup a temp tank?? for the fish??

pm sent

[betiuminside]

Hello!!! I can help on Saturday mornings! :)Let me know!

[irmandanny]

betiuminside thank you but im working saturday morning so i think were shooting for poss sunday. i would just like to say thanks to everyone for being so great and i saw that there is a meeting saturday @ 2 so im hoping to make it.

[Gseclipse02]

i would guess its not glass by the foot print ?

[irmandanny]

the tank is 3/4 inch glass what do you mean by the footprint?

[Gseclipse02]

u dont normally see tanks that high with glass ... it will be a heavy tank forsure

[cowboy572]

Like it has been said that tank will be heavy because of size and what remains in it. The tank alone will weigh well over 400lbs. Then if you keep 1/2 of the water in the tank as you described, which is about 150 gallons, then multiply it by 8.55 (weight of a gallon of saltwater) you are looking at about 1300 pounds. I haven't even gotten to the live rock and sand yet. So all the weights of these different variables start adding up. So to move this tank safely and humanly I suggest taking the whole thing down. Would borrow or buy the big brute trash cans and save the 1/2 of your tank water that way. Then to safely move the fish I would capture them and then place them in a large enough ice chest to help keep the water temperature. A battey powered aerator and heater will help keep oxygen flowing and temperature consistant in the chest till you get the 300 back up. If you are worried about the ice chest I would ask someone to hold your fish in established tank that is big enough for your fish.

[Gseclipse02]

a lot of things are not adding up.... u realize the footprint u gave was a 500g tank.... 6 people is not enough..... saving 250g water will be fun ... personally i would call a lfs and see who will baby sit ur fish this wont be up and running that fast


u also have to think things never go real smooth ... plan for a ultra long weekend


keeping any sand in the tank will be crazy on top of the weight of glass i wouldnt want to be some one lifting that tank


personally i would think the measurement you took/ given are not correct

[irmandanny]

Yes I was told its about 600 pounds :what_smile: Which is soooo crazy the more I think about it.....but I'm excited and just hope all goes well with the move and set up.....I'll post pics once it's up and measure it myself once it's home.

[irmandanny]

Oh and no I'm not crazy ;) we are planing on tearing it down completely and were getting the big trash cans from home depot for the live rock, water & sand as for the fish I was hoping to get a temp tank for them to keep them in with there own water since its only about three fish.....and since it is my first huge salt water aquarium please feel free to give me any advice or info that you may have. Thank you.

[Kristy]

Irma, your biggest potential problem would be the sand. The fist should be ok in a holding tank(s) as long as you keep the parameters the same (salinity, temp, etc.) and the live rock will be fine in holding tubs indefinitely if you put a powerhead in there to circulate the saltwater.

But reusing the sand has potential for big problems because disturbing the sandbed releases pockets of detritus, nitrates, bacteria that have been trapped there for a long time. You can buy new sand and rinse it thoroughly and put it in there or you can rinse, rinse, rinse and rinse some more the sand you have taken out of there or do some combination of the two. Also, you can always ask someone around here for a couple of cups of their sand to "seed" your clean sand with to add biodiversity and it will become live sand in no time. Especially because you have the benefit of the live rock that will have all the good bacteria in it. Do some research on reusing a sand bed and make the decision you feel most comfortable with, but for the least risk to your system, I'd caution you to be conservative about reusing the sandbed.

[alton]

Make sure you have a pump and at least 50' of hose for pumping water, you do not want to carry it. Also I like using those blue 60 gallon food grade barrels with screw on lids. The big thing is if you can wait until the end of March when the temperature stablizes because you are looking at a full day of moving. I see you live in Live Oak but how far are you moving it to? That makes a big difference on far you have to go?

[irmandanny]

yes i was told to rinse it and after trying to figure out how to rinse so much sand we started thinking maybe we should just buy new sand and after what you said Kristy thank you i think will definitely buy new sand and Alton were moving it from zazamora & 35 to here