Hello wise people of TPT. My name is Sebastian.
I have been reading this forum and visiting the website for quite some time but I have never posted nor made an account till today, because I finally have questions that I would like to get some answers from TPT experts.
Recently I have picked up 55 gallon fish tank and I'm planing on making it into planted tank (I have zero experience doing planted tanks but I have owned a 20 gallons tank for few years now) and my scare is that my house floor might not be able to hold the tank. I live in the attic of a rental house build in 1920-30's. The apartment starts on the 2nd floor and the attic is just big open space room split with a wall that lead to the closet. 1st floor of the house is a liquor store (owned by my landlord) w/o any walls in the store except the load walls and maybe 4 ft of a wall in the middle of the store. I know a tank this size filled with water is around 600 LBs (give or take few LBs) plus a stand and everything else in the tank. I've read a lot on this forum and other forums about people having 55 gallon tanks on their 2nd/3rd floor of their apartment building, but the more I read the more freaked out I get about it. Figured I would ask some questions and maybe few people who live in a house and have an aquarium on a 2nd/3rd floor can answer.
1. Would it be safe to place a tank against a wall that isn't load wall? (the attic outside wall isn't a house load wall, the wall I'm referring to is a wall that divides the closet and the room)
2. Should I try and find a placement against a load wall if possible? (I could manage finding something but it would require to move some furniture around)
3. I have a 1/2 plywood placed on the bottom of a drawer stand/cabinet I will use for the tank. Will that help some with the stability of the stand/cabinet?
4. The drawer stand/cabinet I use for the aquarium is a store bought furniture. My 20 gallons aquarium has been on a drawer cabinet from IKEA and its been holding for last 3 years without any issues at the moment, but I'm not sure if this drawer cabinet will hold 55 gallon tank. Any thoughts?
Most of the threads I have read about this only mention people living in an apartment building on a 2nd/3rd floor, but they don't mention what kinda floor they have and if the building is new or old.
I will include some pictures of the room and the cabinet so people can say what they think and if I'm over killing this. I just wanna be on a safe side and not kill anyone with a falling down aquarium.
This is half of the room that I live in and the aquarium is placed against a wall that divides closet/storage and my room. Bellow that spot are 2nd floor bedrooms and somewhere where the drawer cabinet is located is a wall that divides those 2 bedrooms.
This is the drawer cabinet that I want to use as my aquarium stand.
I have been reading this forum and visiting the website for quite some time but I have never posted nor made an account till today, because I finally have questions that I would like to get some answers from TPT experts.
Recently I have picked up 55 gallon fish tank and I'm planing on making it into planted tank (I have zero experience doing planted tanks but I have owned a 20 gallons tank for few years now) and my scare is that my house floor might not be able to hold the tank. I live in the attic of a rental house build in 1920-30's. The apartment starts on the 2nd floor and the attic is just big open space room split with a wall that lead to the closet. 1st floor of the house is a liquor store (owned by my landlord) w/o any walls in the store except the load walls and maybe 4 ft of a wall in the middle of the store. I know a tank this size filled with water is around 600 LBs (give or take few LBs) plus a stand and everything else in the tank. I've read a lot on this forum and other forums about people having 55 gallon tanks on their 2nd/3rd floor of their apartment building, but the more I read the more freaked out I get about it. Figured I would ask some questions and maybe few people who live in a house and have an aquarium on a 2nd/3rd floor can answer.
1. Would it be safe to place a tank against a wall that isn't load wall? (the attic outside wall isn't a house load wall, the wall I'm referring to is a wall that divides the closet and the room)
2. Should I try and find a placement against a load wall if possible? (I could manage finding something but it would require to move some furniture around)
3. I have a 1/2 plywood placed on the bottom of a drawer stand/cabinet I will use for the tank. Will that help some with the stability of the stand/cabinet?
4. The drawer stand/cabinet I use for the aquarium is a store bought furniture. My 20 gallons aquarium has been on a drawer cabinet from IKEA and its been holding for last 3 years without any issues at the moment, but I'm not sure if this drawer cabinet will hold 55 gallon tank. Any thoughts?
Most of the threads I have read about this only mention people living in an apartment building on a 2nd/3rd floor, but they don't mention what kinda floor they have and if the building is new or old.
I will include some pictures of the room and the cabinet so people can say what they think and if I'm over killing this. I just wanna be on a safe side and not kill anyone with a falling down aquarium.

This is half of the room that I live in and the aquarium is placed against a wall that divides closet/storage and my room. Bellow that spot are 2nd floor bedrooms and somewhere where the drawer cabinet is located is a wall that divides those 2 bedrooms.

This is the drawer cabinet that I want to use as my aquarium stand.