Can I Move a Tank with Sand

[aquaventions]

I have a brand new 100 gallon (tall) bow front acrylic tank with 3/4" walls. My plan was to fill it 1" with water, put in the 50 lbs. of sand which works out to about an inch tall, and then fill it the rest of the way with water.

I may change my plans though because we will be moving in the next three to six months. I can set up the tank as I originally planned, or I could leave it bare bottom until we move.

If I put in the sand, do I need to remove the sand when we move; or can I get away with moving the tank with the sand? Is there a best way to remove sand?

What do you recommend?

 

[Gobrian44]

I'm gonna go with bare bottom cuz moving an acryllic with sand later on will more than likely cause scratching as well as just be a pain in the butt

 

[EmilyMarie85]

I recommend you take the sand out - not only will it be much easier to move, but you can potentially damage the tank if you move it when it isnt empty... Doesnt mean you cant fill it with sand now, and then take it out when you move

What works for me: go to home depot and get yourself some of those 5 gallon buckets with lids & some kind of scoop (anything would work)... and then just rent/borrow/buy a dolly. When it comes time to move, strip the tank down to just the sand and a little bit of water - use the scoop to take the gravel out and fill the buckets up - then slap the lids on and use the dolly for easy transporation of the heavy waterlogged sand filled buckets
You don't have to get every grain of sand out - it doesnt have to be spotless...
When you get to the new location, just dump the sand back in - spread around and enjoy

 

[cichlid2006]

im in the same boat. got sand to put in my 5x2x2 but im moving anytime soon. as a result ive gone bare bottom, dry sand is much easier to carry in its bag than wet sand.

a tank with a layer of wet sand would be incredibly heavy, you may even damage the seals. i would leave it out, its only a few months going bare bottom to save a lot of work.

 

[iloveoscars702]

yea i would take it out... i actually switched from sand to a tile bottom... imo it looks alot more cleaner and a hell of a lot easier to clean

 

[Conor1148]

^^^ now that is a great idea!

 

[aquaventions]

Thank you everyone. I think I'll leave it bare bottom until we move.

 

[Toby_H]

If I put in the sand, do I need to remove the sand when we move; or can I get away with moving the tank with the sand? Is there a best way to remove sand?

I have moved literally dozens of taquariums with wet sand in them... While this does drastically add weight, it poses no other threat...

I've moved: 6' 125 gal several times, 4' 120 gal several times, several 4' 75 & 55 gals several times each... and countless smaller tanks... each with wet sand in the bottoms...