# I want to move my tank about 4 feet to the right...



## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

I need to move my 55g tank about 4 feet to the right. If I were to take the water level down to at least half way, maybe more, could I move this stand and all? It is on one of those wrought iron stands. I do believe that my son and myself could do this...we would be very careful of course but if the tank is still on the stand would it be okay???


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

I've moved mine with about 3/4 drained out and moved it stand and all with no problems . And of course the more water you drain out the easier it is to move, so I'd take out as much as possible before moving it. Just to be safe.


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## clgkag (Mar 22, 2008)

I just had to do this. Go to home depot and get the moving slider things. Just lift each corner and put one under it and it will slide very easily.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Yes those work , but you still have to drain the tank some to make it light enough to lift. Either way it looks like shes getting a waterchangr out of the ordeal :wink: .


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## Skimboarder_07 (Mar 3, 2005)

just buy some of those storage containers and fill them with the water that way you can put it back in with very little change if at all tothe water chemistry


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

> just buy some of those storage containers and fill them with the water that way you can put it back in with very little change if at all tothe water chemistry


 Unless she just did a waterchange right before trying to move the tank there would be no reason to put the old water back in the tank. As for the water chemistry , unless we're talking about a very sensitive species with very strict water reqirements, the fish aren't likely to care. Whatever adjustments might need to be made can always be done after the tank is moved . Clean fresh water is good water :thumb:


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

THANKS Everyone!!! :thumb:

This will make everything soooo much easier, and yeah it will be pretty much like a regular water change as I do 50% a week anyway.


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2008)

I'd drain it AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE..and remove any freestanding rocks/caves as they can come loose and fall and crack the glass.

The main reason for draining though is it is extremely dangerous...you can ruin the tank (ie, break it, rip apart silicone seals, etc) by moving it with water. Also, water is extremely heavy and your 55gal filled probably weights nearly 600lbs more or less full.

If you can, I'd remove the fish into a bucket and drain it as much as possible. That would make it super easy to move and the safest way as well.

~Ed


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

+1 for draining as much as possible, why put unnecessary stress on the seals!

Good luck! Don't strain yourself now .


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

I will at least take the water level down as much as I can you can be sure of that!! Another reason I want to move it this way is because of the fish. I don't have a fish net big enough for these two and I'm not sure where I can get one either!! Where do you buy a net big enough for a 10" fish?? I've never seen a net big enough at any of the fish stores....



> Good luck! Don't strain yourself now :wink: .


Thanks!! Hopefully I won't strain myself or the seals!!


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

. Sounds like you want a pond net.

I got the largest aquarium net I could find near me and, well, when it came to catching my Rottie I just gave up on it - half of him would stick out and it's the biggest net at any LFS I've seen. Go to a pond store and problem solved. Plenty of choice for _deep_ sizeable nets for getting those big feesh.

:thumb:


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

The furniture sliders work GREAT! I moved both my 55's without taking ANY water out. Lifted the corners put the sliders under and away she went! Get some spray silicone, spray the bottoms of the sliders first and you'll have to keep the tank from sliding across the room. A carpet installer showed me that trick and I couldn't believe we moved them without taking any water out.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2008)

heylady said:


> I will at least take the water level down as much as I can you can be sure of that!! Another reason I want to move it this way is because of the fish. I don't have a fish net big enough for these two and I'm not sure where I can get one either!! Where do you buy a net big enough for a 10" fish?? I've never seen a net big enough at any of the fish stores....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Petsmart has pond nets that I use for my 10" fish.

You can also go to any pond shop, a well stocked LFS, or a hardware store or bait shot for nets.


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## mithesaint (Oct 31, 2006)

Not sure if you've moved them already or not, but when I had to move my Rotkeils, I caught them by hand. They're WC, and not outgoing and friendly yet :lol: Give it a try, you might be surprised. Once I had a decent grip on them, they relaxed and let me move them. I was shocked at how easy it was. No guarantees for you though :lol:


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

mithesaint said:


> Not sure if you've moved them already or not, but when I had to move my Rotkeils, I caught them by hand. They're WC, and not outgoing and friendly yet :lol: Give it a try, you might be surprised. Once I had a decent grip on them, they relaxed and let me move them. I was shocked at how easy it was. No guarantees for you though :lol:


I catch most of the fish by hand, its a lot more effective than most people would guess.

that said I still need to get a bigger net (around 1foot square.)


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

Thanks everyone! I'll be off to a pond supply store this weekend (there's one near me). I haven't moved the tank yet, that will be this weekend too. 



> Not sure if you've moved them already or not, but when I had to move my Rotkeils, I caught them by hand. They're WC, and not outgoing and friendly yet Give it a try, you might be surprised. Once I had a decent grip on them, they relaxed and let me move them. I was shocked at how easy it was. No guarantees for you though


I don't know if I could do this! Kind of scared to try to be honest!!


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

:lol:

My Rottie is very personable and tame and lets me stroke him, push him around, feed him by hand etc, but he WILL NOT let me pick him up like this, no matter how frequently I try he just doesn't like it . You're lucky yours were so tolerant (how big are they?)! I hate netting the Rottie as much as he hates it and I cringe every time as I don't want to damage any finnage.

Nowadays I use a small bucket if I need to get him, scoop him out, he never leaves water and it's too confusing to freak out :lol:.


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

SUCCESS!!  It went very well, better than I had hoped...drained the water down to only enough to cover the fish if they leaned a bit :wink: ! My son and I carefully moved the tank over and after refilling, Pinky started doing her pre-spawning moves...

Still haven't gotten to the pond store though. Got caught up with moving the tank, then cleaning the other tanks, then....well, you get the idea!

Thanks everyone!


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