Shifting of cabinet tank 3ft or bigger

[genes]

Hi all

Was wondering if anyone has any bright ideas to shift a 3ft or bigger cabinet tank that is filled with gravel, driftwoods, flora and fauna etc.

Apart from removing as much water as possible and maybe the fishes in it. The tank will still weigh quite a bit with the driftwoods, gravel and leftover water in it. Am worried that pushing the tank with that amount of weight in it might buckle the wooded cabinet. Solution to soap the floor before pushing might help. Anyone else tried other methods of shifting?

Regards
Eugene

[eddyq]

This is the chance to rescape and throw away old gravels/sands/base fert.
Hence,a empty tank easily move to new location.

[genes]

You would'nt be saying that if you have 18kg of aquasoil in it...

[Justikanz]

I still think you HAVE to remove all those stuff in the tank before moving.

Besides adding unnecessary weight, the shifting will dislodge wood. The wood will then scratch the glass. Worse if you have rocks or lapis/sand. This is a chance for re-scape, as mentioned. But also a chance to add new soil if it is the time to do so anyway. You might want to replace 50% of the soil, if cost is a problem. Anyway, no movers would want to move the tank with all those stuff inside...

Btw, wet gravel weighs A LOT more than the dry ones. So 18kg of dry soil will end up much more than 20kg!...

[benny]

Eugene,

Are you shifting it around in your house or shifting it out of your house?

If it's the later, you have to remove the Aquasoil. If it's the former, there are ways to do it.

Cheers,

[genes]

Shifting it around the house only. Not a far distance. Just from the corner of your typical HDB flat, beside the kitchen entrance to the side of the main wall.

Not sure if anyone gets what i am saying...

[michael lai]

Hi Genes,
You need 4 strong men and 1 big trolley for that kind of work. Dragging or pushing might damage your cabinet's exo skeleton. Costly negligence. If you only got 1 good friend to spare, then taking out everything is the way to go. You won't believe the weight and mine was only on cast iron legs.

[alanyeo99]

Genes, about 2 months back I moved my 4-footer (16mm thick glass with teak-wood cabinet) with 4 inches of gravel in it. The distance was 10m within my living hall. Flat ground, no steps. I used a trolley, a car jack and some wooden toy blocks from my kids. Tricky though. Got the idea from documentary on MegaStructures from National Geographics.

Whether this is possible for your case, I really can't tell. It depends on what your cabinet is made of, ability to access from underneath, etc. PM me if you want more info.

[bossteck]

Hi,

You dun really need to lift the cabinet that high.. just lift it high enough to stuff some flatten cardboard boxes under the cabinet, do the same for all four corners, then just get your helpers to push/drag the tank into the desired location, lift the cabinet up just enough to remove the cardboard pieces... you're done!

But... if you're planning to rescape after the move anyway.. then it would be easier to remove as much of the substrate as you could, can just scoop it into buckets for reuse later. It will make your shifting easier.

[Jungle-mania]

I recommend not dragging the stand with the tank on the top. I once did that with a writing table with another friend, the four legs came out and our table became a very pricy surfboard.