help removing fuel tank?

[LooseScrew22]

So i have noticed a bit of a fuel smell in the stern of my boat, and looks like the gasket for the fuel gauge sender is full of cracks and splits... regardless of if this is the source of the leak, i want to replace it. I removed the two straps in the front of the tank, the black brackets in the lower front of the gas tank. I loosened the hose clamps that hold the vent hose and the fuel filler hose but i have been hesitant to pull these hoses off. There's not a lot of room to move the 1.5" fuel fill hose and i am concerned it could break off the tank. I really only need to pull the tank forward enough to get access to the sender... there's a bracket on the bottom of the tank that spans the middle cavity and prevents me from just rotating the tank from the port side.
so-
(1) how best to remove the fuel filler hose without breaking something - should i just cut it and replace?
(2) the shower pump motor was also ziptied to the gas tank strap- where do the shower pumps usually live? would there be a better place to mount it?

Any suggestions?

[Boats Bros]

Can you remove the lower bar that spans the bilge? But I would cut and replace, but we had like 200ft of fuel hose in the shop.

[LooseScrew22]

Update- i was able to remove (with difficulty) the metal fill nozzle and then remove the 1.5" hose and i was able to remove the tank. What a PITA! I will be moving the shower pump to the 'factory' location in the doghouse and since my tank has the sump, i am going to repack the rudder while i can see it.

[Jonny Quest]

You may want to add a grease zerk "extension" onto the rudder assembly so that rudder maintenance is easy-peasy.

JQ