# Question about fish tank placement



## Janh (Apr 9, 2011)

I just moved and put my 55 gallon tank in the living room on rug. The tank does not seem to be very secure, any heavy movement across the floor causes the tank to shake. I can visibly see water movement from walking across the floor. If I gently push on the top of the tank I can cause movement. Not sure, but this seems pretty unsafe to me and is freaking me out. Is there some way to make it more stable on the rug, if I put a piece of plywood underneath the stand that was slightly larger than the stand would that work or do I need to move it off the rug completely? Is this a problem that may happen even in an area without rug. My last place the tank was in the basement on concrete floor, so there was absolutely no way to create movement in the tank, this place it is a sub floor over a crawl space. Any thoughts on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated, I want to keep the tank but will not if I cannot make it more secure. Thanks in advance.


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Plywood may work, but I'd move it off the rug if you can. Makes for easier cleanup in case of leaks.

(btw, moved this to the equipment forum for you)


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

You sure it's the rug and not your floor? In my house, the old hard wood floors move a bit (as they all do on old houses unless they have been sheeted over with thicker plywood) so when my kids jump there is some movement of the water. I have the tank in the corner on exterior load bearing walls so I don't worry about it.


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## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

2wheelsx2 said:


> You sure it's the rug and not your floor? In my house, the old hard wood floors move a bit (as they all do on old houses unless they have been sheeted over with thicker plywood) so when my kids jump there is some movement of the water. I have the tank in the corner on exterior load bearing walls so I don't worry about it.


I agree with the load bearing walls. As an ex homebuilder i can say for sure that your rug is not the problem, its your floor. Dont use plywood as plywood will warp and stress your tank seal. Only use plywood as a base if its been secured firmly to a squared and flat frame.


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## Janh (Apr 9, 2011)

I am confused, how does having the tank on a load bearing wall fix my problem? My tank is not in a corner but it is on an outside wall, I am not concerned about it tipping back and hitting the wall, I am concerned about it tipping forward and crushing my kids. My only choices are to try moving it around the house to see if there is a more secure piece of flooring to support it or get rid of it? That's too bad, I really hoped to keep it and leave it where it is.


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## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

A load bearing wall is a structure of your house that "bears" all of the weight for that section of house. In other words, it will be the sturdiest, and least prone to the spring in your floor that you will find in other areas, making your tank shake less.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

If the water moves when you walk past the tank, then it should be the floorboards rather than the rug.


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## Janh (Apr 9, 2011)

I have never dealt with this issue before because my tanks were always on concrete. I guess what I would like to know is this fairly normal when a tank is on floor, should I be concerned and try to move the tank elsewhere, or is there any quick fix for the problem I am experiencing, or worst case do I need to get rid of the tank?


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I'd want my tank as stable as possible if kids were around it.


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## Janh (Apr 9, 2011)

Thanks, that's what I thought too, guess the tank will have to go.


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Just fasten the stand to the wall with some brackets... 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Post a picture of the stand as well. If the floor is solid and 
A 4 foot 55g inherently is tall and narrow and is easier to move.
Also think of your floor as a very stiff trampouline so it does bounce. I definitely would not put anything more than a 10-15g in the middle of a second floor construction. My 75g has the long edge on a load bearing wall. It deflected (wood does compress) and nobody is allowed is run or jump in my living room.


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## badrad (Aug 6, 2012)

Worse case is to install a floor jack underneath the floor to provide additional support to the floor joist to prevent sag. This depends on your access and the condition of the basement flooring. If you are in an apartment or rentiing, then not much you can do there.






(not my video...)


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## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

Jahn, you have a couple of different options. If your tank is along an outside wall of your house that is a good thing as it is closest to the support mechanism of the floor. If the stand for your tank has four legs with feet you may want to reconsider a different type of stand. Look for one that has more of a base that contacts more of the floor and spreads the weight of the tank more evenly over more space instead of the four points where the feet touch the floor. You could also look at "strapping" your tank to the wall using some sort of wooden frame. You may also look at lowering the height of your stand to lower the center of gravity so it is not so top heavy. Personally I have built my own stands over the years and always build ones with a base as compared to legs with feet. I overbuild them drastically to the point they could support a truck. vertical crushing strength of a 2 X 4 or 2 X 6 is huge and will support lots of weight...so I chose to overbuild my stands. like the previous post you could always support the floor below if you could. To get rid of your tank would be sad as fish keeping is really cool for kids!


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## Janh (Apr 9, 2011)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am not able to build a different stand, I do think this is part of the problem. Mine is narrow and high and probably not all that well built. Reinforcing the floor is out of the question at this time. For now I think my best option is to downsize the tank to a 33 gallon and fasten the stand to the wall studs for extra support. Hopefully a lighter tank and straps will resolve the problem so I can continue to keep some fish.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

I have hold a 20g on two heavy duty wall bracket from HomeD before.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

As gklaw mentioned 10-15g tank middle of the room is about max anyone should consider depending on their structural framing. As a example, if you're using 2x10 joists on 16" centre and span 14ft at bare minimum your floor will support 50lbs per sq ft but depending on some variables can support much more then that. 15g tank full with water/gravel weighs in around 170lbs, so using up every bit of that 50lbs/sq ft and more. This doesn't mean you can't put bigger in the centre of a similar room, but these are "safe load amounts".

Depending on your floor system, and if the tank is close to a load bearing wall, you would be fine leaving it in my opinion, if you're worried about it tipping over, go to the store and grab a couple of brackets and secure the stand to studding.


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