Details of the "low tide method" of tank moving?

[Brent F]

I once used the low tide method to move a 54 gallon tank across the room. I thought it would be safe to do because I could move it on the stand so wouldn't stress the tank. The tank was okay but the stand was wobbly from then on.

In hindsight I should have drained the tank completely

[BCOrchidGuy]

Moving tanks is a pain but I agree with everyone else, BUT I'd say buy another tank and set it up where you need it to be, allow a couple days for the water to mix properly and then move rock etc... Sure you have to find something to do with the old tank but, that's never a real problem is it??

Doug

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by zoomin

but was going from a memory of a thread I read, etc.

That would probably be my thread. I did this with a 75g tank, but no sand and only about an inch of water. 3 inches of sand and 5 more of water would be too much to manage safely. I would consider it with no water, just the sand, but that might still be too heavy.

Mine was a 48"x18", 75 pounds of rock, lots of coral and about 1 inch of water. I've done it twice without issue. A 90 is only taller, so a bit more glass but otherwise the same size.
Overall the entire move has to be considered for stairs, corners, etc. Mine were easy, so 2 - 4 people managed it fine. The tank has t ostay level the whole trip, and don't extend it much more than 30 minutes.
If you have time and lots of rubbermaid tubs, that way works too.

[zoomin]

Yes, my fuzzy memory thinks it was your thread, Brad. Did you not also leave some fish in there in the little bit of water while you were moving it?

Brave man

I got some breathing room on the move date so I can order up the new tank, have it in place and move at my leisure.


Morphing this thread now, but anyways...

Has anyone ordered a custom tank from SeaStar in Victoria?

They say they can make *whatever I can imagine* but I have not ever seen their custom work, and I have not read anyone describing the work they have done. On the other hand, Concepts Aquarium out of Edmonton has lots of pictures and praise on their website, so I am leaning towards them for the to make the tank (54x28x28 Starfire on three sides).

Obviously, it would be nice to not have to pay the $$$ shipping and crating fee from Edmonton, but it works out to about the same price if you can believe it.

With Concept Aquarium, though, I am not going through any retailer, whereas SeaStar does not want to deal with the public so that quote was via a local retailer.

In redux, if I knew SeaStar would produce the same quality custom tank that Concepts would, I would definitely buy it from them, happy to pay the local retailer their markup instead of giving those hundreds of dollars to a shipping company.

[fkshiu]

My tank is a custom from Seastar that I bought through OA. The dimensions are listed in my sig but the "custom" part is an external overflow "Herbie" style overflow with dual 1.5" bottom drains.

Seastars aren't the prettiest tanks around since they use rather thick plastic black trim all around, but my tank is literally "built like a tank" with generous use of black silicone. One possible downside is that they put in a beefy glass center brace on top which would cut down on a lot of light if you used 3 MH over the tank. I just went with 2 pendants + supplemental light and no one's the wiser.

I suppose a rimless euro-braced starphire tank with ground and bevelled edges would look nicer, but that would certainly add to the cost by quite a bit.