How To Move A 55 - Floor Problems

[kwfish]

Hey everyone,
So I have a 55 gallon in my second floor apartment. When I moved in I didn't really take into consideration that my tank should be placed in a certain spot. I have recently been worried about my floor collapsing. For the past few weeks I have noticed that my floor has a few soft spots in it and I can definitely feel the floor joists when I walk on top of them. When I walk it goes from hard (I assume the joists) to soft (sinking?) then back to hard, etc. Also, because of this I have now realized that I placed the tank parallel to the direction that the joists are going. My tank is also against a wall that divides two rooms. Bad I know! In addition, I am also worried because the floors in my apartment complex are not very good. I can hear every noise the guy above me makes. Even if he is walking, it seems as if he is pounding on the floor. My floors also creak when I walk around - which they were like when I moved in.

So, I would like to move my tank about 4 feet over and change its orientation so that it is against the outside wall and is going perpendicular to the floor joists. Does this seem like a good solution? Is it okay that the new tank position would be very close to the old position? I don't want to move the tank so close and have the floor give out from the change.

Also, I have to empty the tank completely in order to move it. What is the best way to do this? I can probably keep about 20 gallons of water (maybe less) in some storage containers that I have if that will help at all.

Thanks for the help!

 

[CysticCrab]

Ask who your renting from were the apartment can hold 600+ pounds of weight, i would move it to a load bearing wall, corners are best and spread the weight over as much space as u can, not on points but flat all the way across the bottom. GL moving mate.

 

[sheffieldlad]

The fact that you can hear the guy above you doesn't mean the floors aren't good.
He may not have carpets on the floor which would mean you would hear every step he makes.
Either way, the floor surface will not affect the joists which support it.

You probably should align your tank to run across joists to distribute the weight but it's fine that the tank will be near its origonal position.

As long as you fill the tank back up with dechlorinated water which is within a few degrees of the origional tank water temp then it should be fine.
Saving as much tank water as you can would help you do this but you can top it up as long as you treat the new water and temp match it as much as you can and remember to turn your heater off 10 mins before you empty the tank and leave it off till you have filled it back up.

-Paul

 

[TrainRek77]

I've remodeled a few houses and replaced a ton of joists. If the floor is soft in spots you most certainly have a sub-floor problem. The plywood that's laid across the joists is probably soft and separated. This happens almost anywhere there is water, bathroom, laundry room or under an aquarium. The best thing you can do is put a stiff piece of wood under your aquarium stand, on top of the floor. This will disperse the weight better and give a little buffer before the water damages the floor. The placement seems fine but where the tank is now is already damaged. At the house I'm working at right now one of my legs fell through the laundry room floor, between the joists. I'd move your tank then have someone pull the floor covering up and see how bad the damage is.

check the ph in your water and the tap. If there is a difference larger than .2 do two 50 percent water changes over 24 hours of time before you move the tank. I wouldn't bother storing any of the water but I would temperature match the tap as close as I could. Definitely use a dechlorinator. Don't rinse anything from your tank in the tap water. If you want to clean ornaments or rocks fill a bucket with the water you take out and use it. Make sure your take your substrate out or you can crack the bottom of the tank.

And of course don't drop it.

Goodluck.

 

[kwfish]

How do I get the last few inches of water out of the tank? I have a gravel vac that I can use to get most of the water out but it will only drain it so far. After that I am forced to just use a cup and scoop it out?

 

[TrainRek77]

or you can take the hose off the barrel of your gravel vac and siphon a few more inches out. After that it's pretty much just time to get a friend to help you pour the little bet remaining out.