Sooo... How exactly does one move a giant tank?

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Chicxulub

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I'm planning to build a new house next spring, which will have a man cave area with a giant fish tank. The tank gunning for right now is 120x42x32 (internal) acrylic. Granted, this is still a plan and may never happen, but that's not the point lol.

Getting it to the build site is not a problem, getting it positioned in the house is. I figured that I would be able to have my builders move it into place, but no general contractor I've spoken with wants any parts of moving the tank lol. The local (I always make big purchases locally when I can) vendor from whom I will be purchasing it has no experience moving tanks this large; only up to about 400 gallons.

It occurs to me that I have no clue how to move it, either. For "small" tanks of 300 or less, it involves bribing a few buddies to come lift it. This thing is estimated by the builder to be over 1000 pounds dry and will be going into a very tight alcove. Not sure the buddy option is viable.

Help? LOL
 
The only real way is the buddy way. If its tight moving fork lifts and such wont work. Just need more friends, more beer, more snacks.

Im sure the contractor and workers could help if there was a waiver signed or something, but I would lean towards friends.
 
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I would look into renting special dolley. If you watch some of the ATM episodes you see how it's all about dolleys with wheels that can be rolled where needed, and they have cranks to help with raising and lowering the tank
 
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Chicxulub said:
I'm planning to build a new house next spring, which will have a man cave area with a giant fish tank. The tank gunning for right now is 120x42x32 (internal) acrylic. Granted, this is still a plan and may never happen, but that's not the point lol.

Getting it to the build site is not a problem, getting it positioned in the house is. I figured that I would be able to have my builders move it into place, but no general contractor I've spoken with wants any parts of moving the tank lol. The local (I always make big purchases locally when I can) vendor from whom I will be purchasing it has no experience moving tanks this large; only up to about 400 gallons.

It occurs to me that I have no clue how to move it, either. For "small" tanks of 300 or less, it involves bribing a few buddies to come lift it. This thing is estimated by the builder to be over 1000 pounds dry and will be going into a very tight alcove. Not sure the buddy option is viable.

Help? LOL
Click to expand...


We used an engine hoist to lift and place the tank on the stand. A pallet jack worked for moving the tank and stand around--which we had to do several times while dry walling around the tank. Tank 15' x 4' x 4', stand made out of 3 1/2" tubular steel...the pallet jack worked well.

Of course, in this pic, the yellow thing is to lift the drywall sheets to the ceiling.
may13.jpg

The stand was slid in before the outside walls were finished. My husband did it by himself. Our tank was stored for many months at a moving company. It was very scary when they moved it as they were totally clueless and had to slid the tank in through the same opening. My husband did some yelling to keep them from destroying the tank. Others on MFK have had their tank/stand inside the build before the framing was completed. I think you will find that the pallet jack will work well moving the tank around, and the engine hoist good for stabilizing and lifting the tank.

stand.jpg

The only downside to having the tank and stand in place is the possibility of damage during construction. but since the tank comes crated and on pallets, you could get the crated tank in place in the earlier stages of construction.
 
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pacu mom pacu mom I own a cherry picker. I can't begin to express to you how upset I am that I didn't think of that myself LOL. As for the pallet jack, the warehouse guy has one at work so bringing it home for the weekend shouldn't be a problem. Thank you so much!

100fuegos said:
Why don't you get them to build the tank in place?
Click to expand...

I asked lol. It's prohibitively expensive to do so.
 
Good plan. Great post pacu mom pacu mom .

Pallet jacks were used at my plant for up to 2,000 pounds, and fork lifts for bigger loads. You just have to be careful that the surface it moves on is as flat and firm as you can as it will seem much lighter than it is once it's on the jack.

Our plant was of course built with concrete floors in most places, but pallet jacks were never used on gravel or uneven surfaces.
 
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