# Moving 55 gallon tank



## TDunn523 (Oct 3, 2014)

I want to move my 55 gallon off the dresser and onto a stand. it will be going across the room about 10 feet whats the easiest way to do this? can i drain half the water and move the tank? i would slide the tank from dresser to rolling flat tool chest then slide onto the new stand. never had to move it before.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

A half filled tank weighs approx 220 lbs not including weight of sand, rocks, etc.. Any shere weight can compromise the stability of the glass or the caulk. I would say to put your fish and all the water in buckets, remove the strata, and empty it, then move it, then fill it up again.


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

grab all the buckets and stuff like that and start filling them up with the water/fish/gravel.


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## TDunn523 (Oct 3, 2014)

I have sand. I just switched from gravel to sand and my tank is a lot clearer now then before


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

TDunn523 said:


> I have sand. I just switched from gravel to sand and my tank is a lot clearer now then before


Sand is nice. But that does not mean you can carry it without destroying your tank.


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## Botiadancer (Dec 30, 2013)

I seem to move tanks all the time.

Yours is an easy move.

Take all the rocks out/decorations out. You can leave any plastic plants in if you have them, or ceramic caves. They will be important later.

If you have less than 1/2" of gravel or sand, don't worry about it. If you have more, start moving it to buckets.

Move your remaining sand/gravel to 2/3 of the tank - meaning have 1/3 of the tank bare. Put your plastic plants or caves on the bare side - fish will hide in them.

Drain your water down to a little less than your tallest fish. If you have tall or large fish, you might want to bucket them. I generally aim for 1.5-2 inches of water in the bare side at the most. At this point, with roughly 22 pounds of water per inch of depth and maybe 40 pounds of gravel/sand, you're looking at less than 80 pounds spread over the whole bottom.

Move your tank to where you want it. 


If you have the time, then yes, draining the tank completely and bucketing everything is absolutely the best way to go.


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## TDunn523 (Oct 3, 2014)

That sand is not high at all kind of prefer to keep sand in tank so its easy to fill back up. Going to get the stand and spare tank tonight off craigslist. I'm buying for the stand. I'll just throw water and fish in buckets and drain complete except for sand. I believe i used like 30 lbs of sand.


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## kalyke (Nov 19, 2014)

Then do it and good luck.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

kalyke said:


> Then do it and good luck.


+1

Aside from being heavy and cumbersome, tanks aren't that hard to move.


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## big b (Jun 28, 2014)

have you moved it yet?


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## woody019 (Oct 4, 2012)

Your going to need two people but get a few buckets or a brute force tub from lowes save at least half the water, drain the tank of as much water as you possibly can, remove the aquascape and keep the sand in the tank you'll have no problem moving the tank. Then put the water you saved back in the tank along with the aquascape and top off with new water. I've moved a 55 a couple times and this is the way I did it.


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## TDunn523 (Oct 3, 2014)

All done, haven't had a chance to get on tho. three big rubbermaid bins. My fiance helped me move it.. not that much help but enough to get it the 7 feet with sand still in it. Just waiting now for water to clear up. Doing a small cleaning tonight just to clean the sand. Thank you all for the help.


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