Ball bearing furniture casters

[Country joe]

Been looking at these on face book, they are 4 with four ball bearing casters on each one they fit under the four corners of washing machines fridges etc, if I removed 40 % water from tank, I'm wondering would these make it easy to move a tank to half way across a room to make way for bigger tank. With two persons.

 

[FranciscoB]

Yes, they should. Two Dollies, each bearing 4 casters similar to those described would also accomplish the deed. Perhaps you already have a dolly or two, or can borrow them. That way, no need to purchase the caster just for this job. They ain’t cheap. Good luck. What size is the tank?

 

[Uberhoust]

Be cautious about moving tanks with water in them. If they move abruptly for any reason there could be significant sloshing, perhaps enough to topple the tank. Personally, I wouldn't move a tank unless it was mostly empty of water and substrate. How would you get the casters under the tank? Just my opinion.

 

[Country joe]

125 litres, would have to Lift on side up about 3 inches put in the two casters one on each corner, then the same with the other side, as I'm only moving out the way to get my 200 litre tank in, its only moving 8 feet, if I take out 50% Water ,wood, and rocks, me and my mate could gently move it.

 

[kiko]

I did it a while back with my 45gal but I emptied the tank down to about 1" above the soil...
basically emptied the water to the buckets checked for fish/shrimp and if nothing dump the water
saved 5 5gal buckets and then put the water back and filled it the rest of the way
in a way a water change...

 

[Country joe]

As I'm only moving 6 or 8 ft I'm wanting to keep the fish in it, I'm thinking if I do 50%water change the water going into a large plastic bin, two men should be able to move it, I will then fill it back up, connect filter, and I can set up the new tank.Next day I will remove plants and substrate to new tank, move filter, when temp is correct move fish to new home.

 

[GaryE]

You may have an unintended risk. When you move a tank with water in it, you often seem to shorten its life. The movement of the water against its seams, especially if it doesn't have a good top frame, can do damage.

Just drain it down to two inches, or less if the fish are covered. Move it, which shouldn't be hard. I moved a 110 litre drained down to 2 cm last week by myself.

Treat for chloramines or chlorine, mix the temperature correctly and refill with fresh water. I have long ape arms, and you may not, so two people could move a tank like that in 10 minutes.

 

[TNG]

125 litres, would have to Lift on side up about 3 inches put in the two casters one on each corner, then the same with the other side, as I'm only moving out the way to get my 200 litre tank in, its only moving 8 feet, if I take out 50% Water ,wood, and rocks, me and my mate could gently move it.

I’m curious, are you going to place a castor directly at each corner of the tank or are you going to screw 4 castors to timber board and place the tank on the board? I wouldn’t try the former, very high chance of breaking the tank.

A 125L tank with only sand and decor in it should weigh about 30kg, so is quite manageable if you have someone to help. If you also have 20cm depth of water in it, it weighs roughly another 60kg, 90kg total. I wouldn’t do it.

 

[MaloK]

It really depends on the flooring.

A wool blanket glides very easily on wood, there are sliders too that can be used, some for wood others for carpet.

As everyone said lower the water level to the lowest possible. Avoid as much as possible swaying during the operation.

 

[Essjay]

I used to have the same tank. When I moved it across the room I used a 60 litre dustbin. I siphoned half the water into the bin, then caught the fish which was easier with only half the water in the tank. Then I empties the rest of the water and threw it away. Without any water the tank was light enough for 2 of us to move. Once the tank was in the new position, I used a bucket to transfer a lot of water from the bin back into the tank, then caught the fish again and put them into the partially filled tank, added the rest of the water from the bin then filled up with new water. A bin of water is surprisingly easy to move across a room by swinging it gently (don't scare the fish!) from side to side.
The only thing different from your situation is that all my plants were attached to decor back then so they could also be moved into the bin while we moved the tank.

 

[Country joe]

Thanks everyone who helped I will finish up, the last thing is substrate, I want to transfer it from my old tank to the new, I've been looking at a lot of videos on you tube, and about half say move the fish to a container then move the substrate, others say no, keep the fish in the tank when moving substrate as this is less stressful.

 

[Essjay]

I needed to completely empty the tank to move it, so my fish had to go in a separate container (my dustbin). If you do that then move the substrate while the fish are in a container. I changed from gravel to sand during the move.
I couldn't believe the amount of debris in the gravel. There was so much released into the last bit of water that I couldn't see into the tank. And I cleaned the gravel at every water change. That's another reason for taking the fish out of the tank while removing the substrate.

 

[Country joe]

OK, I have already got a big enough container i thought that it would end up not able to see, taking the substrate out, and I have some small Ottos, that would be hard to catch.
I will use tank water, in the container as well as a heater and airstone.

 

[Country joe]

Although a lot on line say not to move fish in tank, I may give it a go, I plan to take out 50% water and remove rocks and wood and plants, to make it easy to catch fish, I will keep this water, then I will take out more water, and two of us will drag cabinet and tank with fish and gravel 8 feet on a short carpet floor, then move new cabinet and tank into the old tank position.
Then fill old tank up with the old water, set up new tank ready for fish, next day transfer fish to heated container and airstone with old tank water, transfer gravel fill new tank up with old water, add plants and rocks, wood, filter on new tank and temp correct, then add fish.
Job done sorryfor long post, will this work?