Moving A Large Aquarium

[Steve A]

I want to move my 80 gallon aquarium out of a corner to another part of the living room.  Now would be a perfect time as I am changing it to a planted and I am doing large water changes to get the nitrates down.

Are there types of companies  out there that do this sort of thing?

TIA

[Dwayne Brown]

I cant speak for companies but I can offer my perspective. I am kind of a don't pay for something to be done if you can do it kind of guy. I actually have some experience doing this kind of thing with large aquariums. My first step was to find someone to help me move it for yours you might need 3 as mine was a little lighter. then I caught all the fish and put them in a 5 gallon bucket if you have tons of large fish you could do multiple buckets. then I 2 5 gallon buckets and took out all the sand, décor, and plants. then finally I moved it with the help of a friend and filled it up again.  I know this is not ideal for everyone, what part of the U.S. are you in some areas have more resources for this kind of thing then others I know where I am anything remotely related to animals costs a fortune. 

[Steve A]

Thanks Dwayne,  right now I have only 1 fish in it and no plants yet, I thought about pulling it down to about 15 gallons and remove the light, filters and heater.  my biggest deal is lets say a ways north of 60 and really don't have many friends that can handle this sort of lifting.

I am in the Dallas/Ft Worth area of Texas.  I was wondering if aquarium shops did this sort of thing or will they think I am off my rocker.

[Dwayne Brown]

I have no idea about texas but I know in seattle area which includes the suburbs way outside the city and the smaller surrounding cities they charge about $170 to bring furniture you order inside your house. If you dont pay that they just leave it outside your door. I have heard dallas is similar to seattle? I would definitely give your lfs stores a call here they move aquariums I dont know how much they charge i have never had to use them. I wish you the best of luck though.

[Steve A]

Thank you Sir

[Schwack]

On 6/15/2021 at 7:36 PM, Steve A said:

Thanks Dwayne,  right now I have only 1 fish in it and no plants yet, I thought about pulling it down to about 15 gallons and remove the light, filters and heater.  my biggest deal is lets say a ways north of 60 and really don't have many friends that can handle this sort of lifting.

I am in the Dallas/Ft Worth area of Texas.  I was wondering if aquarium shops did this sort of thing or will they think I am off my rocker.

Do you have any lfs that do aquarium maintenance? I wouldn't be surprised if you could get an aquarium maintenance crew to help lug it around the room a bit. I'd trust aquarium people over general movers,  but you might be limited in terms of choice.

[Ben C.]

If you're in the DFW area near Carrollton-ish, I've seen the store Dallas North Aquarium advertise tank moving. I haven't read any reviews, but I've visited their store multiple times for dry goods and they've always been very professional with me!

[Steve A]

Thanks Schwack, I know about regular movers, I had some load it on a truck for me when I moved back to TX from KS.  There were some scary moments for sure.  I don't know about maintenance folk I will look some up.

[HH Morant]

I made a similar move - across the room - with my 120 gallon in January. I put the fish in plastic containers with air stones, removed all the water and all the substrate. I hired movers to move the stand and aquarium across the room. I took the opportunity to change the substrate. If you leave the substrate and 15 gallons of water in the tank, that is a lot of weight. For one fish, the bucket is a better idea. I liked handling the fish myself rather than letting someone else do it. If you have canister filters, you might consider taking the tops off during the move so the bacteria get oxygen. I am sure they would survive anyway, but it won't hurt.

[Steve A]

Thanks benchilton, that is the sort of place I was looking for,  I searched around the west side of 35E and did not see any places that did anything but salt water tanks.

They are 19.5 miles from my door so that may not be to bad and they do offer moving tanks per their website.

[Steve A]

Thanks HH Morant, I would like to leave the substrate alone and it is well established, I can put the filter for a bit, they area  pair of Penguin 350's with the foam mods.

[Maggie]

Hi Steve, I think you could call a LFS or an "aquarium design, service, and installation" company and they might help you. Summertime is slow for fish stores, from what I've heard from Cory and others. I'd try that, and if they said no I'd try a moving company that advertises expertise in moving aquariums. Good luck!

[Steve A]

I am going to call a LFS I found yesterday when they open and see what they charge, I talked to one and they wanted $199 per hour and said most take about 3 hours.  That one I cant afford so it may not get moved "LOL"

[lefty o]

drain it, put fish and water in bucket, put gravel in bucket. move tank and stand empty ( a few old duffers can move it empty), refill with your still wet and full of good bacteria substrate, add water, add fish.

[BriannesFishFam]

You can drain the substrate with a larger siphon hose. If you run out of water but still have substrate you can put some water in and then continue draining or you can scoop out the substrate with a cup or net or by hand

[Steve A]

On 6/17/2021 at 9:19 AM, lefty o said:

drain it, put fish and water in bucket, put gravel in bucket. move tank and stand empty ( a few old duffers can move it empty), refill with your still wet and full of good bacteria substrate, add water, add fish.

That is true but the place it sets is sort of blocked in.  I think i will call some rental places and see if I can find a hydraulic cart/table on wheels.  So after I drain it and take out the pumps and other attachments I could slide it around a bit. that would let me get the table level with the tank and then slide it around and then pull it on the table????

[Maggie]

On 6/17/2021 at 10:08 AM, Steve A said:

I am going to call a LFS I found yesterday when they open and see what they charge, I talked to one and they wanted $199 per hour and said most take about 3 hours.  That one I cant afford so it may not get moved "LOL"

Wow! 😮

[Steve A]

On 6/17/2021 at 9:32 AM, BriannesFishFam said:

You can drain the substrate with a larger siphon hose. If you run out of water but still have substrate you can put some water in and then continue draining or you can scoop out the substrate with a cup or net or by hand

Thanks, I don't think I will have a problem draining it as I have enough hose that I fill it from a outside faucet so I can use that hose to siphon it out.  I was thinking of just moving some of the substrate to the side and pulling water from that spot.

[KaitieG]

Not sure what kind of resources you have connections to, but a local community center, school, or religious group might have some young people looking for a "service" project who could lend their muscles.  I know I worked on cleaning up yards and moving for people with our youth group and with NHS when I was in High School.  Wouldn't hurt to call around--you could get it done for free, or if you're super cool, you could throw a couple frozen pizzas in the oven for a thank you 🙂