Move a Tank With a Molting Crab Inside

[Lilyco]

First post!
I have two Hermit Crabs: Romulus, either a medium or large size Purple Pincer, and Remus, a large size Hermit Crab I don't know the specie of. I have been raising them in a 20 gallon tank for around a year now and a 10 gallon for a year before that.
Back in October Remus decided to molt just a few days before my family moved to a new house. We decided to leave the tank there for him to molt in and now, about 9 weeks later, he is still molting and we have to move the tank to an other part of the old house by Wednesday December 22. I don't want to risk shaking the tank too much and end up causing him to stop molting or other possible issues like cave-ins. How can we move the tank without causing problems if possible?

[JoeHermits]

Other crabbers have picked up and moved the entire tank on road trips, just don’t wobble it too much.

Otherwise, plan B is you dig up the molter.


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[aussieJJDude]

I would always suggest to dig up, while one can certainly pic up a full tank, it does place undue stress on the silicone seams and can lead to seams breaking (a broken tank). Uneven support when moving can also lead to warped seams/glass cracking as well.

It's far safer for the crab to be dug up, allowed to surface moult in an iso container for the rest of the moult without the fear of breaking a tank or burrying a moulter through shifting of the substrate.