Upgrading

[nessaathena0822]

I'm thinking about upgrading my 29g to something much bigger, but I'm not sure if it's going to pose a problem as my bedroom is on the second floor above the garage. I currently have a 29g saltwater with about 20lbs of live rock, and two 10s with bettafish (and sometimes a 5.5 as a quarantine) all along that outside wall.
My house is pretty structurally sound, and it's about 60 years old.
I can't put the tank anywhere else in the house, especially since the basement is the "man cave" so that's off limits.
I just want to know what the cut off point is with a tank on the second floor of a colonial so I can potentially upgrade my tank.

 

[bribo12]

How large of a tank are we talking? 100,200? Something in between or smaller than that.

 

[nessaathena0822]

How large of a tank are we talking? 100,200? Something in between or smaller than that.

It depends on what I can fit up there. I was thinking about the lowest being a 55, which I know is usually long so it wouldn't be horrible. I've heard of people having a 90 along with other tanks on the same wall, but I'm not sure i want to go THAT big.

 

[54seaweed]

I would recommend a 40b decent size tank with a awesome foot print
not to big not to small , as you can see they are a nice size in every direction,

they give you room for a really nice scape this is before I broke it down to upgrade to my 90g

believe it or not I'm thinking of down sizing again back to a pair of 40b's

I wouldn't go near a 55g for salt just way to narrow IMO

 

[nessaathena0822]

I would recommend a 40b decent size tank with a awesome foot print
not to big not to small , as you can see they are a nice size in every direction,

I wouldn't go near a 55g for salt just way to narrow IMO

That looks like a good size! Could I go any bigger than that or no?

 

[54seaweed]

Actually you get more room in it than a 55g the lay out is awesome
easier to maintain too
let me see if I can find a pict of the 90g next to the 40g

 

[nessaathena0822]

Actually you get more room in it than a 55g the lay out is awesome
easier to maintain too

That sounds sweet thank you!

 

[54seaweed]

hard finding a pict but this can give idea 40g is about 10 inch shorter than 90
front to back there the same the 40 is 3ft wide the 90g is 4ft wide

in this pict they sit side by side but I can only find part of the 40 next to the 90
Ill have to do some digging

 

[nessaathena0822]

hard finding a pict but this can give idea 40g is about 10 inch shorter than 90
front to back there the same the 40 is 3ft wide the 90g is 4ft wide

in this pict they sit side by side but I can only find part of the 40 next to the 90
Ill have to do some digging

Would a 90 be suitable for a second floor or is that too large? I've heard of people doing it no problem. Otherwise a 40 doesn't seem too bad. More space than my 29 is good

 

[SeanMonster]

Not sure if this helps but I have a 180g in my family room with a basement underneath. When I placed it I made sure that it was perpendicular to the floor joists so the weight is distributed along multiple joists instead of all the weight being supported by one. The tank is as level as the day I set it up almost 4 years ago.

 

[nessaathena0822]

Not sure if this helps but I have a 180g in my family room with a basement underneath. When I placed it I made sure that it was perpendicular to the floor joists so the weight is distributed along multiple joists instead of all the weight being supported by one. The tank is as level as the day I set it up almost 4 years ago.

Well that makes me feel a lot better about putting a bigger tank upstairs! I'm just worried because I'm above the garage but I have my tanks on the exterior wall and there's a huge support beam right under where my tanks are and my garage has a concrete floor. I'm pretty sure my tanks are perpendicular to the floor joists as well.

 

[chaotic_reefer]

I would recommend a 40b decent size tank with a awesome foot print
not to big not to small , as you can see they are a nice size in every direction,

they give you room for a really nice scape this is before I broke it down to upgrade to my 90g

believe it or not I'm thinking of down sizing again back to a pair of 40b's

I wouldn't go near a 55g for salt just way to narrow IMO

What do you mean by a good "footprint"?

 

[bribo12]

Footprint as in the dimensions of the tank. A 40 breeder is better than a 55 because it is 36"x18" whereas a 55 is 48"x12". The 40 breeder gives 6" more width than the 55 and thus much more room to aquascape and such.

 

[nessaathena0822]

Footprint as in the dimensions of the tank. A 40 breeder is better than a 55 because it is 36"x18" whereas a 55 is 48"x12". The 40 breeder gives 6" more width than the 55 and thus much more room to aquascape and such.

That's really interesting, I didn't know that! I really like the idea of a 40 breeder. I'm definitely going to go with the 40b unless a 90g would be okay? I don't want to push the limits.

 

[chaotic_reefer]

I agree! I never thought of that, thanks for answering that for us m8

 

[bribo12]

That's really interesting, I didn't know that! I really like the idea of a 40 breeder. I'm definitely going to go with the 40b unless a 90g would be okay? I don't want to push the limits.

A 90 is 48"x18"x24" I believe which isnt bad. It's a foot longer than the 40 and 6" taller. I'd go to the 90 or a 75 which is same dimensions but 6" shorter so you don't have to reach in as far.

 

[nessaathena0822]

A 90 is 48"x18"x24" I believe which isnt bad. It's a foot longer than the 40 and 6" taller. I'd go to the 90 or a 75 which is same dimensions but 6" shorter so you don't have to reach in as far.

A 75 sounds fantastic actually. That's enough room for more fish AND a good height for me to not get soaked when I'm trying to get something from the bottom of the tank. Thanks so much you're always so informative!

 

[bribo12]

A 75 sounds fantastic actually. That's enough room for more fish AND a good height for me to not get soaked when I'm trying to get something from the bottom of the tank. Thanks so much you're always so informative!

No problem! Always happy to help!