# EMERGENCY!!!! how much water can i leave in tank&Pick it



## TheeMon (May 11, 2004)

sorry im moving and i wanna know a safe way to lift a tank with water in it.

3-4 inches has been the general answer but just checking


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## Mustang Boy (May 2, 2008)

it all depends on how you carry it i had two friends of mine carry a 20g tank from one end of our court yard in my apt. complex to the other(about 20-30 yards) with it about 1/3 - 1/2 full of water gravel and a turtle but they were carrying it with their hands and arms under it so that they were supporting the bottom of the tank as completely as possible


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

the longer the tank, the less likely you can avoid breaking the tank or a seam if you move it with anything in it. 
Personally, tanks under 3ft I cross fingers with... anything over that, I never risk.


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## Dave (Feb 9, 2003)

Moving a tank with water in it and safe do not belong in the same sentence. Even a small tank can break, crack, or split a seam under these conditions. I would drain it, including removing your substrate.


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## boostspike (Apr 3, 2007)

Why not just drain the tank dry??


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## TheeMon (May 11, 2004)

well i have sucessfully move about 1/3 of the tanks.

the reason i wanted to leave water in is to keep the substrate under water to keep bacteria alive. i just drained as much as i could untill it started hitting substrate then stopped... worked fine


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

TheeMon said:


> well i have sucessfully move about 1/3 of the tanks.
> 
> the reason i wanted to leave water in is to keep the substrate under water to keep bacteria alive. i just drained as much as i could untill it started hitting substrate then stopped... worked fine


Actually keeping the bacteria alive is better acheived by draining all the water. Keeping water in the tank kills the good bacteria and replaces them with anaerobic hydrogen sulphide (sewer gas) producing bacteria in a a short time. The good bacteria need moisture and oxygen to survive. They really don't need water and are natural to moist soil not just to well oxygenated aquatic environments. In unoxygenated stagnant water, they perish quickly. When the Cleveland Aquarium moved its fish to a new location, they experimented with different ways to keep bacteria alive before the move and found two ways that worked. One was an elaborate battery operated circulation system that fit into the bed of a pickup truck. The other was to drill small holes in the bottom of 5 gallon plastic buckets so that water did not puddle and turn the gravel anaerobic.


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## Doane (Jun 19, 2007)

When I move my tanks I put all of my filter media in a 5g bucket with a lid and fill that with water. I then move tanks with nothing in them. (I am not SUPER anal if there are just a few specs of sand in the tank I don't sweat it but no more than would fit in one fist) I then put my fish into 50 gallon bins (also plastic) in the back of a U-haul. Those I use a DC/AC converter and run airstones in. I am moving in about a month and hope to document the ENTIRE thing and do a write up. Hopefully once I am done this will provide much needed advise. The secret is to not put your filter media in with your fish. (made that mistake ONCE and lost like 2 fish due to them getting whacked) I have been playing around some some new ideas as far as keeping bacteria alive and water movement. You'll all see in a month. I'll be moving 3 10 gallons a 20H a 20L a 40 Breeder, a 55g and a 120g. Should be interesting.


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## is300soon (Nov 2, 2008)

Food for thought.

About 10 years ago I moved a 10 gallon for my mother. Out of her office, left about 3 inches of water in it above the gravel. I put it in her explorer and set it down. I tried to push it back and my arm went right through the side of the tank. Required about 6 stitches.

I won't move a tank with any water in it anymore.

D


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## lexi73 (May 2, 2008)

Please do document this as it would be a very good resource for others moving with their tanks.... granted you probably have more tanks than others but still i would like to see how you will handle this task.



Doane said:


> When I move my tanks I put all of my filter media in a 5g bucket with a lid and fill that with water. I then move tanks with nothing in them. (I am not SUPER anal if there are just a few specs of sand in the tank I don't sweat it but no more than would fit in one fist) I then put my fish into 50 gallon bins (also plastic) in the back of a U-haul. Those I use a DC/AC converter and run airstones in. I am moving in about a month and hope to document the ENTIRE thing and do a write up. Hopefully once I am done this will provide much needed advise. The secret is to not put your filter media in with your fish. (made that mistake ONCE and lost like 2 fish due to them getting whacked) I have been playing around some some new ideas as far as keeping bacteria alive and water movement. You'll all see in a month. I'll be moving 3 10 gallons a 20H a 20L a 40 Breeder, a 55g and a 120g. Should be interesting.


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## Doane (Jun 19, 2007)

I TOTALLY would have, BUT my girlfriend packed both camera's in a box. When I asked her "where are the cameras" she said "What came...oh ****".

In other news, I ended up using a Mini Van instead of a U-haul but it went REALLY well.


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