Lifting 550 Gal Glass Tank

[joealix]

I'm in the process of putting a glass 550 in my office wall. My office is raised and the tank will sit about 6' above the ground behind the wall with about 650 gallons of sump, fuge, grow-out, all the equipment, etc beneath it in an enclosed closet/room. I'm not able to get a lift into the room to hoist this thing and I'm looking for any ideas on how to do this safely.

[nauticac4]

They do rent small lifts that are a little largr than a person you can wheel into pretty tight areas and have a winch taht does the lifting. you can get them from places like NES or Sunbelt rentals. We use some of them in the plant to remove tooling and to load film into machines. the ones we use are made by Genie.

[nauticac4]

http://genielift.com/ml-series/ml-1-5.asp

[SALT WATER CRAZ]

To Reef Central

[joealix]

Thanks, that might be an option, but I'll have to find one that can handle over 1000lbs. The shipping weight on my freight slip is 1350lbs. Maybe I'll need two lifts

[porthios]

sanjay used an air bag to lift his into place.

[miwoodar]

You can also get a team of people and use suction cup handles.

Welcome to RC - make sure to take pics!

[chrisqueenz]

This is what we used, dual suction cups rated for 200lbs each for my 260G. I used 4, but you will need more than that. $6 each. These things were amazing!


[IMG][/IMG]

[mm949]

i used two motorcycle jacks to hoist my 1350gl-3000lbs tank on the stand....made the stand in three pieces...jacked up then slid stand under tank and lowered...your major issue is the height..most jacks only go 16" which require cribbing
u can try engine hoists or an "A" frame overhead hoist
if u have a stong ceiling a winch could be used

6 or more strong fellows should be able to handle that weight with relative ease
good luck

[miwoodar]

mm949 - your friends are tougher than my friends . With a team of 6 people, that's 225 lbs each. Lifting 225 for a moment is reasonable. Manuvering and lifting the tank onto a 6' tall stand will be the challenge though.

[Halfmoon61]

I'm fixing to move a 400 lb tank, looking into the shoulder strap furniture movers along with the suction cups. The straps are rated for about 600 lbs though so may not be an option for you.

[caorca]

I don't have any suggestions that haven't already been made, but I would sure like to see some photos, once you get it done.

[joealix]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I really don't trust those suction cups because I sell them and I've seen them fail before and I'm not sure it would be any easier than just having 6-8 guys hoisting this up there. I'll get some guys together and with a lot of grunting we'll give it a try; if not, I'll use a combination of all the suggestions.

I'll be posting a lot of photos; I own a hardware store so I've got a never-ending supply of products, equipment, plumbing supplies and options to make this project really exciting. I should be starting mid-September.

Does anybody else have a never-ending number of people who think you're just plain NUTS?

[RocketEngineer]

Have you considered cribbing and car jack?

Once the tank is about one foot off the ground, place a car jack under each corner. You and another person jack up that end of the tank enough to insert a 4X4 that is longer then the tank is wide under that end of the tank. Then, go to the other end of the tank, and repeat the same process. Once you get the tank high enough, replace the 4X4 with say a row of cinder blocks. The second layer of blocks should be perpendicular to the first to keep things from collapsing.

The advantage of using a car emergency jack is that its a) strong enough to lift the end of the tank with minimal effort and b) very controllable. Any small differences between the two jacks can be easily accounted for.

This method is the same concept as used to move large appliances without mechanical assistance. First you raise one side, then you raise the other and by keeping the steps small, you can make sure your supports are nice and stable before going any further.

Definitely not the fastest method but one of the safest for both the tank and people's backs.

[delock]

Originally posted by nauticac4



http://genielift.com/ml-series/ml-1-5.asp

Use two of them and life will be much easier for you!

[spsfreak]

subcribed, looking forward to the pics. GL

[tbittner]

I can tell you right now that six guys won't be enough. I had six guys on our 360g tank, which weighed about 800 lbs, and we sat it on a 3 foot high stand and it was a bear! We had 12 guys on the 450 and we got it onto the 3 foot high stand very easily.

We used suction cups on the 360 and the six of us, no way no how, could have done it without them. It would have taken at least two more guys.

[dew2loud1]

The six foot high is going to be a nightmare, Maybe set up a temporary stand of sorts four feet up to lift it up and set it on, then another platform for you guys to stand on, then up the other two.
It will be next to impossible to lift this beast up over your head.
We had eight guys to unload our 900, and it was in a crate and we had a lift gate, it was 1800 lbs with the crate, the tank itself is 1400, I'm not looking forward to lifting it on the stand.

[Phillybean]

Agreed, unless you build a temp stair case, I can't see any number of guys lift 1100lbs at head/over head level.

If you can't use a lift, build a staircase that you can remove afterwards.

[nauticac4]

It will do 1000 lbs...You have to figure the crate weight and a couple friends helping the lift, not to mention the lift wont collapse if you go over 100lbs