move full aquarium?

sappho · 09/23/2016, 06:29 PM

not all the way full but like a third full? I have a 55g, glass aquarium sitting on the floor with no fish but live rock and enough water to cover the rock to keep the bacteria alive. i just want to rotate it about 90 degrees, will doing so weaken the tank? also the floor its siting on is an old wood floor. if the aquarium is turned to sit across the grain should i be worried about the floor not being level?

JamesHolt · 09/23/2016, 06:46 PM

Bad idea, just drain it.. and sit the rock on a piece of plastic or something...
It should be fine just being damp long enough for you to turn the aquarium(assuming you will be putting everything right back..
55g are normally all tempered panes,, get it in a bind or a rock falls and POOF you join the big spill club..

bhbell · 09/23/2016, 08:13 PM

What he said.

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jpatton · 09/23/2016, 08:36 PM

Agree with both the previous comments. Its not that much water or rock to deal with. Just drain it move it and put it back together. No sense risking destroying the tank over it.

LXXero · 09/23/2016, 09:23 PM

yeah don't do it. not on a 55G, too big.

On a 10-20G? Maybe. Even then you need to be really damn careful. I've had even 10G tanks crack trying to do this before. Be warned.

As for level. Use a level as long or longer than the tank, and throw it across the top. If it's off more than 1/8", shim the stand. Anything less, don't worry about it. Make sure you level it front/back as well as side/side. You don't want it racked/twisted, that's the worst possible thing for it.

bblumberg · 09/24/2016, 11:55 PM

I have moved many partly full aquariums like this, but they are always on 3/4" plywood.

sleepydoc · 09/25/2016, 11:23 AM

Just move the water and live rock in to some tote bins or 5 gallon pails. It's only about 25 gallons - shouldn't take that long

09/23/2016, 06:29 PM	#1
sappho Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 42	move full aquarium? not all the way full but like a third full? I have a 55g, glass aquarium sitting on the floor with no fish but live rock and enough water to cover the rock to keep the bacteria alive. i just want to rotate it about 90 degrees, will doing so weaken the tank? also the floor its siting on is an old wood floor. if the aquarium is turned to sit across the grain should i be worried about the floor not being level?

09/23/2016, 06:46 PM	#2
JamesHolt Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Milton,NC Posts: 1,104 Blog Entries: 3	Bad idea, just drain it.. and sit the rock on a piece of plastic or something... It should be fine just being damp long enough for you to turn the aquarium(assuming you will be putting everything right back.. 55g are normally all tempered panes,, get it in a bind or a rock falls and POOF you join the big spill club.. __________________ John Adams: "In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." Current Tank Info: 29g with 2 Engineer gobies

09/24/2016, 11:55 PM	#6
bblumberg Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 606	I have moved many partly full aquariums like this, but they are always on 3/4" plywood. __________________ Bruce Current Tank Info: 150G mixed reef (6x Blue Acro 20K Pro COB LEDs, 4x 80W T5 supplement), 150g fw discus (T5 lighting), 110G fw Angelfish (DIY LED lighting), 4 x 40 g frag tanks (DIY LED).

09/25/2016, 11:23 AM	#7
sleepydoc Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 3,907	Just move the water and live rock in to some tote bins or 5 gallon pails. It's only about 25 gallons - shouldn't take that long __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 120 gallon, coast to coast overflow w/beananimal overflow. Waveline DC 10000 II return pump, 40 gal sump, Octopus XS200 skimmer, T5 lighting

09/23/2016, 08:13 PM	#3
bhbell Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lake of the Ozarks, MO Posts: 344	What he said. Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk

09/23/2016, 08:36 PM	#4
jpatton Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Sellersville, PA Posts: 20	Agree with both the previous comments. Its not that much water or rock to deal with. Just drain it move it and put it back together. No sense risking destroying the tank over it.

09/23/2016, 09:23 PM	#5
LXXero Moved On Join Date: May 2016 Location: Colorado Posts: 565	yeah don't do it. not on a 55G, too big. On a 10-20G? Maybe. Even then you need to be really damn careful. I've had even 10G tanks crack trying to do this before. Be warned. As for level. Use a level as long or longer than the tank, and throw it across the top. If it's off more than 1/8", shim the stand. Anything less, don't worry about it. Make sure you level it front/back as well as side/side. You don't want it racked/twisted, that's the worst possible thing for it.