55gallon in second story

joe143 · 01/03/2011, 12:34 PM

Hey everyone.I had another thread earlier about finding a level spot in the house for the tank. I couldnt find anything perfect but I did find some nice spots for my 55gallon 4' on the second floor. One spot is in a hall near a seat of stairs but appears to have large load bearing beams running the corners of the hall. The tank would run next to the beams but not over them.

The other spot is in a second story room. In the room the tank would run horiziontally over a first floor wall. I dont know what the walls made of, I'd have to tear some sheetrock open to find out.

Either way I think I'm going to put the tank on some plywood then shim the stand. The reason for plywood being to distribute weight. Also, the second floor is made up of older wooden floor so I would think having the plywood would reduce the stress on the floorboards as well.

Any thoughts or advice are welcomed/appreciated.

SuperNemo · 01/03/2011, 01:14 PM

i'm not an engineer or anything like that, but to me a 55 gallon could probably go anywhere in the house. If you think about it, its only about 400-600 pounds, depending on your setup. Any wall should be able to take that weight.

If you were talking about a larger tank, like over 100G, then you would have to worry more.

The plywood idea would work, I would recommend you shim all along the stand. My tank is on a wall thats not even on all four corners; talk about a headache to shim. What I did was instead of just shimming the corners, I shimed all around the stand and center supports. So about every two inches or so I would have a shim. My floor is off more than an inch in the front so instead of buying shim, i had some left over hardwood flooring that i cut to size.

Hope this helps.

sslak · 01/03/2011, 01:32 PM

55g isn't very heavy. You should be able to put it anywhere.

It's no heavier than a sleeper sofa or something like that would be.

funkejj · 01/03/2011, 01:34 PM

I have a 180 gallon Display and a 40 gallon sump on my second floor no problem. Of course it is against a wall and sits over 5 floor joists with a 3 foot span between load bearing walls but a 55 gallon is no problem on a second story floor.

joe143 · 01/03/2011, 08:36 PM

Thank you all for the replies. Yeah i suppose 55gallon isnt that different then a couch. Its just an old house so it makes me nervous sometimes.

Supernemo- When you shimmed much of your tank, were there any parts of the stand that went touching a shim or the floor?

joe143 · 01/04/2011, 08:18 PM

Update- I found a nice spot on the second floor. It borders one of the outter walls of the house. I think it should be able to support the tank.

01/03/2011, 12:34 PM	#1
joe143 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 143	55gallon in second story Hey everyone.I had another thread earlier about finding a level spot in the house for the tank. I couldnt find anything perfect but I did find some nice spots for my 55gallon 4' on the second floor. One spot is in a hall near a seat of stairs but appears to have large load bearing beams running the corners of the hall. The tank would run next to the beams but not over them. The other spot is in a second story room. In the room the tank would run horiziontally over a first floor wall. I dont know what the walls made of, I'd have to tear some sheetrock open to find out. Either way I think I'm going to put the tank on some plywood then shim the stand. The reason for plywood being to distribute weight. Also, the second floor is made up of older wooden floor so I would think having the plywood would reduce the stress on the floorboards as well. Any thoughts or advice are welcomed/appreciated.

01/03/2011, 01:32 PM	#3
sslak Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,705	55g isn't very heavy. You should be able to put it anywhere. It's no heavier than a sleeper sofa or something like that would be. __________________ Steve Current Tank Info: 58 Oceanic/20g Sump/250w XM 20k/2x39w T5 True Actinic 03/2010 Reef Octopus NW Cone Skimmer

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01/03/2011, 01:14 PM	#2
SuperNemo Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 524	i'm not an engineer or anything like that, but to me a 55 gallon could probably go anywhere in the house. If you think about it, its only about 400-600 pounds, depending on your setup. Any wall should be able to take that weight. If you were talking about a larger tank, like over 100G, then you would have to worry more. The plywood idea would work, I would recommend you shim all along the stand. My tank is on a wall thats not even on all four corners; talk about a headache to shim. What I did was instead of just shimming the corners, I shimed all around the stand and center supports. So about every two inches or so I would have a shim. My floor is off more than an inch in the front so instead of buying shim, i had some left over hardwood flooring that i cut to size. Hope this helps.

01/03/2011, 01:34 PM	#4
funkejj Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 747	I have a 180 gallon Display and a 40 gallon sump on my second floor no problem. Of course it is against a wall and sits over 5 floor joists with a 3 foot span between load bearing walls but a 55 gallon is no problem on a second story floor.

01/03/2011, 08:36 PM	#5
joe143 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 143	Thank you all for the replies. Yeah i suppose 55gallon isnt that different then a couch. Its just an old house so it makes me nervous sometimes. Supernemo- When you shimmed much of your tank, were there any parts of the stand that went touching a shim or the floor?

01/04/2011, 08:18 PM	#6
joe143 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 143	Update- I found a nice spot on the second floor. It borders one of the outter walls of the house. I think it should be able to support the tank.