How to move a 525 gallon 10 ft long aquarium

LotsaTanks · 04/08/2019, 12:14 PM

We purchased a great deal 525 gallon aquarium in San Diego County and am having difficulty figuring out how to move it. Any advice, contacts, movers etc would be appreciated greatly.

We need to move a 525 gallon acrylic aquarium about 1200 lbs (120 inches long, 31 inches wide, and 42 inches tall) & 300 lb wood stand (121 inches long, 32 inches wide, 34 inches tall).

We need to pull a large pane of glass, which is 45 inches tall by 57 inches wide, out of a window to get the tank through to our living room. The tank needs to be raised up by 45 inches to get through the window. There is another 45 inches of space above the window sill to get the 42 inch tall aquarium into the living room. The window is 57 inches wide.

Hoping someone else who has had a large tank moved has some ideas on how to do this!

darthweezy · 04/09/2019, 10:47 AM

For what it's worth, I hired piano movers to move my 320.
Two guys showed up when the tank was being delivered, they put on some back braces/gloves and waited for the tank to be lowered off the truck. In my mind I was thinking there was no way these two guys were going to move this tank without wrecking it.
Once the tank was unwrapped, these guys picked it up, turned it into my front door, down a flight of stairs, a right-hand turn and onto my stand in less than 5 minutes. They didn't come close to hitting a wall or falter at the weight of the beast.
Best $150 I had ever spent.
Worth checking out in your area!

LotsaTanks · 04/09/2019, 11:45 AM

I have tried moving companies but not piano movers. I will contact some and see if they can help.

The 300 gallon acrylic we have now moved with 2 people, but picking up a 1200 pound tank 10 foot long isn't very feasible. We haven't had any luck with anyone to help us move the tank yet, so we are trying to figure out how to do it ourselves. We are looking at hydraulic lift tables to move it and just sliding it on and off the tables.

Prairie Reef · 04/09/2019, 12:32 PM

Great idea!

o2manyfish · 04/12/2019, 08:05 PM

Call a "Rigging" Company. They come equipped with all kinds of cool toys, Airbags to lift the tank, onto carts. Carts that use air to float across fancy floors. All kinds of neat things for moving big heavy items. 2 guys can do it no problem.

Dave B

Bono · 04/13/2019, 02:39 PM

I used a hydraulic lift table to move my 9 ft glass 425 gallon into place with a couple a furniture dollies to get it from garage into the house. The key is to take your time, have some help and think everything out. I'll bet that tank weights about 600 lbs not 1200 because its acrylic.

LotsaTanks · 04/14/2019, 11:01 AM

The rigging companies I tried were astronomically expensive. They do have cool gadgets though!

I found someone who seems interested and able to move it with proper equipment. The quote I got was 450-550 which is the only quote so far that seems realistic. Someone else offered to move it cheaply with an improbable plan of 2 people and dollies and didn’t have any plan on how to handle the huge tank.

The tank is about 1,000-1,200 lbs. It is thick acrylic, not 3/4. The weight calculator I used shows just over 1,000 lbs and the seller calculated 1,200 lbs.

Hoping the person with the 450-550 quote will work out. Otherwise we may try renting genie lifts that are narrow enough to fit through the gate, if we have to do it ourselves but that’s a last resort.

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Speed · 04/14/2019, 11:12 AM

Blue Tang Clan · 04/14/2019, 01:20 PM

If the tank is acrylic, there is no way it's 1000 pounds. 500-600 pounds at the most. A glass tank of that size would definitely weigh 1000-1200 pounds.

It is still a beast, but far more manageable with fewer people.

LotsaTanks · 04/14/2019, 02:36 PM

1 side panel at 1.25 inches thick 120x42 inches is 271 lbs
1 back panel at 1.5 inches thick 120x42 inches is 325 lbs
1 bottom panel at 120x31 inches is 200 lbs
2 side panels at 31x42 are 70 lbs each (140 lbs)
Top panel with cut outs is 100 lbs

Total weight=1,036 pounds without large overflow included

Is there a different acrylic weight calculator that’s more accurate? I found one from a plastics company for acrylic and used that to calculate.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Monkeyfish · 04/15/2019, 02:04 PM

Spend the money and hire someone who 1) knows what they are doing and 2) is insured. It'll be worth it to save on stress and aggravation. If a professional aquarium installer can't help, go with the rigging company.

LotsaTanks · 04/15/2019, 02:21 PM

We just hired someone who is licensed and insured and has experience moving items that are not standard. He gave a quote of $500 for the move which sounds reasonable, and is looking at the tank and measuring our house to see the best way to get it in.

And yes, it is definitely better to have someone else move the tank. The biggest tank we've handled ourselves is a 5 foot long 300 gallon acrylic and that was difficult but not terrible, but at 10 feet long and more than 2x as heavy the new tank isn't something we want to handle. We will see how it goes, have May 4th scheduled for the move.

Monkeyfish · 04/17/2019, 09:29 AM

Good luck.

77bandit · 04/20/2019, 06:44 AM

We live in a small rural West Texas town and had 14 high school foolball players move our glass 10'x30"x30" tank into a very tight space where the tank is viewed on both sides. So, at one point, one 10' side had no one over there as they slid the tank in place. It was quite a scene. My wife has it all on video. They also had to walk it a few hundred feet from our back barn taking breaks in between. We would put 4x4's underneath during rest stops.

thirst · 04/25/2019, 01:50 AM

This is how I moved my 120x48x30 3/4” glass tank.

https://youtu.be/Q2VZfmKiUUc

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LotsaTanks · 04/27/2019, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thirst

This is how I moved my 120x48x30 3/4” glass tank.

https://youtu.be/Q2VZfmKiUUc

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That looks like the best way I've seen so far and what we were originally envisioning. The tank mover we hired couldn't move the tank after all, so we may go about it ourselves. What is name of the portable forklift you used to move the tank? Did you rent it for the move?

thirst · 04/27/2019, 02:04 PM

The tank manufacture AGe brought it with them.

The thing weighs 200+ pounds.

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LotsaTanks · 04/27/2019, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thirst

The tank manufacture AGe brought it with them.

The thing weighs 200+ pounds.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! Found where we can rent them around here.

savethereef · 02/02/2020, 01:35 AM

What did end up doing? How did the kove go?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

04/08/2019, 12:14 PM	#1
LotsaTanks Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego County Posts: 131	How to move a 525 gallon 10 ft long aquarium We purchased a great deal 525 gallon aquarium in San Diego County and am having difficulty figuring out how to move it. Any advice, contacts, movers etc would be appreciated greatly. We need to move a 525 gallon acrylic aquarium about 1200 lbs (120 inches long, 31 inches wide, and 42 inches tall) & 300 lb wood stand (121 inches long, 32 inches wide, 34 inches tall). We need to pull a large pane of glass, which is 45 inches tall by 57 inches wide, out of a window to get the tank through to our living room. The tank needs to be raised up by 45 inches to get through the window. There is another 45 inches of space above the window sill to get the 42 inch tall aquarium into the living room. The window is 57 inches wide. Hoping someone else who has had a large tank moved has some ideas on how to do this!

04/09/2019, 12:32 PM	#4
Prairie Reef Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 127 Blog Entries: 1	Great idea! __________________ Old…75gal/20sump mixed, AI Sol SBx2!, mp40w, Tunze 9006, ca++ reactor, GFO/Carbon. New… ??

04/12/2019, 08:05 PM	#5
o2manyfish Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Encino, CA Posts: 6,199	Call a "Rigging" Company. They come equipped with all kinds of cool toys, Airbags to lift the tank, onto carts. Carts that use air to float across fancy floors. All kinds of neat things for moving big heavy items. 2 guys can do it no problem. Dave B __________________ 560g Display. 1500g System Volume. (2) 180g Outdoor Frag Tanks. 340g Sump, 30g 2 story surge tank. Dasatco EXT 9. Bubble King Skimmer. Ozone. UV. 5' Fluidized Sand Filter. Avast Kalk Mixer. Current Tank Info: 560g SPS Dominant Reef / 1500g Total System

04/13/2019, 02:39 PM	#6
Bono Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Lakewood Ranch Fl. Posts: 872	I used a hydraulic lift table to move my 9 ft glass 425 gallon into place with a couple a furniture dollies to get it from garage into the house. The key is to take your time, have some help and think everything out. I'll bet that tank weights about 600 lbs not 1200 because its acrylic. __________________ Living it up in Florida Current Tank Info: 210 gal, 300lbs LR, Aquamaxx Skimmer, 3x Reefbreeders LED's & T5's.

04/14/2019, 11:12 AM	#8
Speed Unregister Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Outside of Philly Posts: 195	__________________ Good Things Happen Slowly..... Bad Things Happen Fast! Current Tank Info: Slowest 125g build in history

04/09/2019, 10:47 AM	#2
darthweezy Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 3	For what it's worth, I hired piano movers to move my 320. Two guys showed up when the tank was being delivered, they put on some back braces/gloves and waited for the tank to be lowered off the truck. In my mind I was thinking there was no way these two guys were going to move this tank without wrecking it. Once the tank was unwrapped, these guys picked it up, turned it into my front door, down a flight of stairs, a right-hand turn and onto my stand in less than 5 minutes. They didn't come close to hitting a wall or falter at the weight of the beast. Best $150 I had ever spent. Worth checking out in your area!

04/09/2019, 11:45 AM	#3
LotsaTanks Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego County Posts: 131	I have tried moving companies but not piano movers. I will contact some and see if they can help. The 300 gallon acrylic we have now moved with 2 people, but picking up a 1200 pound tank 10 foot long isn't very feasible. We haven't had any luck with anyone to help us move the tank yet, so we are trying to figure out how to do it ourselves. We are looking at hydraulic lift tables to move it and just sliding it on and off the tables.

04/14/2019, 11:01 AM	#7
LotsaTanks Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego County Posts: 131	The rigging companies I tried were astronomically expensive. They do have cool gadgets though! I found someone who seems interested and able to move it with proper equipment. The quote I got was 450-550 which is the only quote so far that seems realistic. Someone else offered to move it cheaply with an improbable plan of 2 people and dollies and didn’t have any plan on how to handle the huge tank. The tank is about 1,000-1,200 lbs. It is thick acrylic, not 3/4. The weight calculator I used shows just over 1,000 lbs and the seller calculated 1,200 lbs. Hoping the person with the 450-550 quote will work out. Otherwise we may try renting genie lifts that are narrow enough to fit through the gate, if we have to do it ourselves but that’s a last resort. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

04/14/2019, 01:20 PM	#9
Blue Tang Clan Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Maryland Posts: 51	If the tank is acrylic, there is no way it's 1000 pounds. 500-600 pounds at the most. A glass tank of that size would definitely weigh 1000-1200 pounds. It is still a beast, but far more manageable with fewer people.

04/14/2019, 02:36 PM	#10
LotsaTanks Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego County Posts: 131	1 side panel at 1.25 inches thick 120x42 inches is 271 lbs 1 back panel at 1.5 inches thick 120x42 inches is 325 lbs 1 bottom panel at 120x31 inches is 200 lbs 2 side panels at 31x42 are 70 lbs each (140 lbs) Top panel with cut outs is 100 lbs Total weight=1,036 pounds without large overflow included Is there a different acrylic weight calculator that’s more accurate? I found one from a plastics company for acrylic and used that to calculate. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

04/15/2019, 02:04 PM	#11
Monkeyfish Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Long Island (NY) Posts: 4,077	Spend the money and hire someone who 1) knows what they are doing and 2) is insured. It'll be worth it to save on stress and aggravation. If a professional aquarium installer can't help, go with the rigging company. __________________ Eric "One thing that humbles me deeply is to see that human genius has its limits while human stupidity does not." Current Tank Info: Taking a break

04/15/2019, 02:21 PM	#12
LotsaTanks Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego County Posts: 131	We just hired someone who is licensed and insured and has experience moving items that are not standard. He gave a quote of $500 for the move which sounds reasonable, and is looking at the tank and measuring our house to see the best way to get it in. And yes, it is definitely better to have someone else move the tank. The biggest tank we've handled ourselves is a 5 foot long 300 gallon acrylic and that was difficult but not terrible, but at 10 feet long and more than 2x as heavy the new tank isn't something we want to handle. We will see how it goes, have May 4th scheduled for the move.

04/17/2019, 09:29 AM	#13
Monkeyfish Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Long Island (NY) Posts: 4,077	Good luck. __________________ Eric "One thing that humbles me deeply is to see that human genius has its limits while human stupidity does not." Current Tank Info: Taking a break

04/20/2019, 06:44 AM	#14
77bandit Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 32	We live in a small rural West Texas town and had 14 high school foolball players move our glass 10'x30"x30" tank into a very tight space where the tank is viewed on both sides. So, at one point, one 10' side had no one over there as they slid the tank in place. It was quite a scene. My wife has it all on video. They also had to walk it a few hundred feet from our back barn taking breaks in between. We would put 4x4's underneath during rest stops.

04/25/2019, 01:50 AM	#15
thirst Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,907	This is how I moved my 120x48x30 3/4” glass tank. https://youtu.be/Q2VZfmKiUUc Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

04/27/2019, 02:04 PM	#17
thirst Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,907	The tank manufacture AGe brought it with them. The thing weighs 200+ pounds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

02/02/2020, 01:35 AM	#19
savethereef SCRK Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Bellflower 90706 CA (So Cal) Posts: 7,720	What did end up doing? How did the kove go? Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk __________________ Instead of building a reef in my home i would rather build my home in the reef. Rob aka STR SCRK & SCMAS MEMBER Current Tank Info: Leemar 450g 96L x36W x 30T 3/4 inch Starfire With 70g Sump Vertex 250 Royal Exclusive protein Skimmer Laguna 2900 Return pump 5 Aquaillumination Hydra's LED Modules. 4 Tunze Stream Bubble Magus Doser. Reef Keeper Elite