Weight???

[smittyjr18]

I have a 55 Gal in my basement right now and i'm looking to get a new wood stand (not really wood but the compressed stuff).http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...1175900616213&itemNo=1&In=Fish&N=2030055&Ne=2

I have sand in the bottem of the tank and i'm looking to move it to the first floor. Will that be to much weight on the floor upstairs?

 

[Devilishturtles]

I highly doubt it, unless your house is really old. If you have any worries at all, make sure you place it on a load bearing wall, but I wouldn't worry one bit.

 

[smittyjr18]

Thats the problem. The only place i can put it is next to a non-load bearing wall. It will be about 5 ft away from the main house beam. But there is nothing to worry about?

 

[bs6749]

55 should only be about 550 lbs max. You should be fine.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I have a 55 gal tank sitting on an inside wall of a 107 year old building with soft pine floors. It's a little shaky when you walk quickly around it, but it's perfectly fine.

 

[malloc]

I like to think of it in terms of people. a 55 gallon tank prob. weighs around 500 lbs, which is about 2 overweight guys, or 3 average guys. So ask yourself this: If you saw 2 pretty big guys standing in the spot you would be putting your tank, would you ask them to stand somewhere else to avoid damaging your house?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The difference with that analogy is that those 2 guys wouldn't be standing in that same spot day in and day out. I like the refrigerator analogy.

 

[malloc]

That's true, but I find the notion of asking a small group of people to move to a more structurally secure area amusing =P

 

[Devilishturtles]

Yeah I think a 55 gallon would be just fine. I usually think in terms of people to, but a fridge sounds better, hehe.

 

[ksfishguy]

Weight Okay

Has anyone reading this ever had an issue with a tank falling through or seriously damaging the floor due to weight?

I can remember back around thirty years ago my brother hitting a tank with his chair and cracking the glass, it was quite a scene!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

lol True malloc.

ksfishguy- No, I havne't. But I have seen houses with a bowed floor where the fish tank sat. The last house we looked at the owner had a 150T, same one as ours, in the living room and it wasn't supported very well in the basement. You could see the dip in the floor.

 

[tropicfishman]

not a tall you'll be fine, unles syou home is held together with mud and sticks then you'll be fine lol. a 55 even with a stand and gravel never really tops out at more than 650 lbs. you should be fine, good question though

 

[Yeti]

all i can say is good luck moving that bad boy!

 

[ksfishguy]

A bowed floor, incredible, I guess I always keep my tanks in the basement, I just would hate to have a leak or worse...call me paranoid. I also have two sons, ages 3 and 10, I would hate for them to "break" the tank upstairs!

I had to move my 42 gallon when we put carpet in the basement, not fun. I filled countless (around seven) 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot and slid the tank across the floor on those furniture coaster things you can buy now. It really wasn't that bad, I just hate putting stress on the tank seams and such, a little scary.

Good luck!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I never knew the struggle of moving tanks until we had the 150. The 55 wasn't a big deal. They are easy to move. But a 150 with 150 lbs of sand, 80 lbs of rock, 25 African Cichlids, and plants? Yowzer. Just the tank alone required three people to move.

 

[jsoong]

A bowed floor is definitely possible with a big tank. We had a piano over an inside wall & the floor is an inch or so down where it is sitting .... But the piano is 1000+lbs, so a 55 should be OK. If you are worried, just put it across the joists so the weight is spread out.