I need to move a 300g, 1000lb. tank

T

Tinyfish

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I need to move an 8 foot tank that weighs approx. 1000 lbs. on Saturday 7/25/15 in West Richardson. I need eight strong guys. Please post if you can help.

I also need to find suction cups so movers have something to hold onto. Any clues?

And there is a 6 foot sump that goes with it.

I am thinking of putting the tank and sump in an enclosed trailer 16' long that has a ramp as the back door. That would facilitate me storing it until I can make a stand for it. If that sounds OK then all that needs to be done is loading it. Both I and the guy I am getting the tank from live about 4 blocks from each other.

Thanks.
 
Whatever you do, make sure you have extras. There was a post on here back in March about moving a tank in Murphy in exchange for pizza and beer. Four people volunteered....I was the only one to show up, and we were there at least an hour. Fortunately the buyer had some helpers along with him and between them and the seller we made do.
 
I personally wouldn't risk it. If you get a LFS to do the move or professional movers they have insurance that will cover the tank if it is scratched or damaged during the move. 300g is also quite heavy and having the necessary equipment and manpower to move a tank that size safely will be difficult to obtain and coordinate. Give DNA a call, I know for certain they will do it. Then try other LFS and moving companies to get the best price.
 
If you move it yourself:
Also, don't use the suction cups to carry the tank, just to slide it or get a corner up.
I've only had experience with the 2.5 inch HF suction cups, but it wasn't particularly good and it tended to let go after a couple minutes. They rate their dual cup 4.5 inch ones to 125 pounds, so I'm thinking half that at most for safe use. At 1000 lb that leaves you needing 16 of them which is at least 8 people. Having moved my 8' 300 gallon tank (acrylic) I have to say that it's going to be difficult getting 8 people around it, and the loading won't be even. Wheeled carts or dolleys are a must, and even then 1000 lb is a lot if you aren't used to moving things.

Put the tank on some boards 1) so that people don't crush their fingers putting it down and 2) so that it's easier to pick up at the other end.

If you end up hiring help consider the moving companies. Fish stores specialize in moving running systems in ways that moving companies don't, but the moving companies are good at moving big expensive stuff every day. They'll probably sub it out to a third party contractor (who you really want to contact in this case), so try for their contact info. The company that placed my 300 into my house here sent 4 guys who spent a total of maybe 5 minutes moving the tank. Consider also that my stand is at waist height, against a wall, and the tank has pipes sticking 12" out the bottom which had to line up through a hole in the center of the stand. They acted like it was one of their easier jobs.
 
Agreed. I have a 300g and DNA delivered it for me. I was considering doing it myself, but was very glad I made the decision to spend the money to have them do it. They are pretty fair with their pricing, especially when they just deliver and don't do a complete setup with plumbing etc. Given your situation with the tank only needing to be moved a very short distance, I'd think it'd be less expensive than you might think.
 
I agree with all the above. Consider having somebody do it for you. People are extremely flaky, especially volunteers. You could have 10 people volunteer and then you wait around for an hour and only 1 shows....in lots of cases nobody shows. With professionals, they deal with their employee no-shows AND they'll still get the job done for you. Also, Just from previous experience, moving a tank that large with volunteers almost ALWAYS winds up in a scratch or a chip.
 
OK.

I wondered about the likelihood of getting 8 people to help. I will contact DNA and go from there.

Thanks for posts.
 
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