tgreene
07/28/2007, 06:06 PM
Today was D-Day for my partner, which meant that 4 of us would have the the task of tearing down his system, moving it across town, and setting it back up. As much as we all hate moving tanks, it' even harder when 2 of the 4 have really bad backs and can't do any heavy lifting...
To start off; two days ago my partner called me to discuss the move, and like every other conscientious reefkeeper, neither of us wanted to disrupt the sandbed. While that sounds all well and good, he has a deep sandbed in his 75, which makes for A LOT of dead weight that could easily split a tank with normal lifting techniques.
When he called me a couple of days ago, I happened to be flying high on pain pills at the time (severe migraines), and suggested that he just build a carrier, and we use leverage to simply lift and carry the whole thing. At first he thought I was nuts, but because I was very clear about getting three 8' 2x4's and cutting one of them down to be used as cross members, then screwing the whole thing together like a ladder, he realized I was dead serious. The idea was to have 5 cross members placed every 10", in order to make damn sure the 48" tank was completely supported without the possibility of torquing and cracking the tank (of course the probability of dropping it was never even discussed).
Anyways, he built the "Super Duper System Stretcher" yesterday, and it made moving the tank so easy, because the weight was spread out equally over a larger plane. Also, with the long extensions on either end, it was a cinch to just grab the beams and carry it.
To get the tank onto to frame, the 2 guys with good backs held the frame perfectly still, while me and another guy gently slid the tank from the cabinet to the 2x4 frame... Once it was on the frame, they simply carried it out the door and set the ends on the tailgate of a pickup truck, then pushed the frame in with the tank remaining in place. We all drove across town, unloaded and positioned the cabinet first, then the guys reversed the process to get the tank out of the truck (it was easy, cause it now had handles), carry in in the condo, and while they held it parallel to the stand, we (the bad back guys) gently eased it into place. Moving the tank full of sand, was actually much easier than moving the stand, because of the ability in which it could be carried.
We started tearing it all down at 8:30 this morning, and by 11:30am the tank had been relocated and was already refilled with the original water. By 12 noon, the aquascaping had begun.
Anyway, because we all know how much moving a tank absolutely sucks, we wanted to share this with you guys for future reference...
http://gallery.nea-reefkeeping.com/album/00000065/mini-DSC_4862.JPG
http://gallery.nea-reefkeeping.com/album/00000065/mini-DSC_4864.JPG
http://gallery.nea-reefkeeping.com/album/00000065/mini-DSC_4866.JPG
http://gallery.nea-reefkeeping.com/album/00000065/mini-DSC_4868.JPG
To start off; two days ago my partner called me to discuss the move, and like every other conscientious reefkeeper, neither of us wanted to disrupt the sandbed. While that sounds all well and good, he has a deep sandbed in his 75, which makes for A LOT of dead weight that could easily split a tank with normal lifting techniques.
When he called me a couple of days ago, I happened to be flying high on pain pills at the time (severe migraines), and suggested that he just build a carrier, and we use leverage to simply lift and carry the whole thing. At first he thought I was nuts, but because I was very clear about getting three 8' 2x4's and cutting one of them down to be used as cross members, then screwing the whole thing together like a ladder, he realized I was dead serious. The idea was to have 5 cross members placed every 10", in order to make damn sure the 48" tank was completely supported without the possibility of torquing and cracking the tank (of course the probability of dropping it was never even discussed).
Anyways, he built the "Super Duper System Stretcher" yesterday, and it made moving the tank so easy, because the weight was spread out equally over a larger plane. Also, with the long extensions on either end, it was a cinch to just grab the beams and carry it.
To get the tank onto to frame, the 2 guys with good backs held the frame perfectly still, while me and another guy gently slid the tank from the cabinet to the 2x4 frame... Once it was on the frame, they simply carried it out the door and set the ends on the tailgate of a pickup truck, then pushed the frame in with the tank remaining in place. We all drove across town, unloaded and positioned the cabinet first, then the guys reversed the process to get the tank out of the truck (it was easy, cause it now had handles), carry in in the condo, and while they held it parallel to the stand, we (the bad back guys) gently eased it into place. Moving the tank full of sand, was actually much easier than moving the stand, because of the ability in which it could be carried.
We started tearing it all down at 8:30 this morning, and by 11:30am the tank had been relocated and was already refilled with the original water. By 12 noon, the aquascaping had begun.
Anyway, because we all know how much moving a tank absolutely sucks, we wanted to share this with you guys for future reference...
http://gallery.nea-reefkeeping.com/album/00000065/mini-DSC_4862.JPG
http://gallery.nea-reefkeeping.com/album/00000065/mini-DSC_4864.JPG
http://gallery.nea-reefkeeping.com/album/00000065/mini-DSC_4866.JPG
http://gallery.nea-reefkeeping.com/album/00000065/mini-DSC_4868.JPG