# Placement of a salt water tank



## casey711 (Feb 4, 2007)

I'm planning on buying a 55 gallon tank for my house. I've never owned a salt water tank before. My only experience is a 10-gallon freshwater tank. In considering where to put the tank (weight bearing issues on my floors) it appears that the best place for the tank would be in my bedroom.

My girlfriend is concerned about the noise level and smell. Is the sound of the pump or the filter loud enough to disrupt sleep?


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Welcome.:wave:

It depends on what filter you have. A bedroom is not exactly the best place due to cold room temperature if you do use air conditioners at night. For the air pump, place a piece of cloth or sponge underneath the air pump so the vibrations will be minimized.


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## Melissa (Nov 28, 2006)

well after a while you just get used to whatever sounds your tank will make. The water in the back of our overflow box going down the tube into the sump sounds like a draining sink sometimes. It used to startle me at first because it sounded like th tank was overfilling. But now i am used to all he sounds it makes and it doesnt bother me anymore. So give it some time and you will get used to it. And is doesnt smell, that is unless you walk up to the tank and put your face so close to the water.

Now when placing the tank, make sure you dont place it where the sun will be hitting it non stop. This will cause algea to grow alot in your tank. Its a shame you cant put it in your living room or somewhere you are alot. Saltwater tanks are really nice to watch.


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

a stench will be caused if you dont take good care of your tank  my freshwater tank is in my room, the air pump annoyed me the first week, them im used to it and the trickling water is a very relaxed sound.


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## Matt (Jan 20, 2007)

musho3210 said:


> a stench will be caused if you dont take good care of your tank  my freshwater tank is in my room, the air pump annoyed me the first week, them im used to it and the trickling water is a very relaxed sound.


Same Here...I am used to it now.


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

You can make them run silent. It's not difficult. It'll take a lot of research and understanding of how siphons work (if you go sump),. A 55 would not be difficult at all to make silent. What I'm really wondering is why are you concerned about the weight issue of a 55g? You are looking at about 475lbs over a 4' long area. A footprint of 48"x12" leads to a square footage/poundage ratio of 118lbs per square foot. You telling me that at 150lbs or more you have to walk lightly around your home so as not to fall through the floor? You could put that tank anywhere without it falling through.


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## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

ask your construction people and look at some of the blueprints of your house to see if the room can carry that wheight


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## casey711 (Feb 4, 2007)

I appreciate the level of response I have received. Such a warm and helpful community here. Thank you all.




caferacermike said:


> You can make them run silent. It's not difficult. It'll take a lot of research and understanding of how siphons work (if you go sump),. A 55 would not be difficult at all to make silent. What I'm really wondering is why are you concerned about the weight issue of a 55g? You are looking at about 475lbs over a 4' long area. A footprint of 48"x12" leads to a square footage/poundage ratio of 118lbs per square foot. You telling me that at 150lbs or more you have to walk lightly around your home so as not to fall through the floor? You could put that tank anywhere without it falling through.



Perhaps I do not understand the dynamics of what my floors can take. The floors are wooden and the joists underneath would run perpendicular underneath the only spot in the living room where I could put the tank. The tank would sit on 2 joists underneath. The floors are not overly weak but do creak in some spots.

I've even thought about looking into more support underneath. 

Even if I did have to downscale a bit I'm thinking the living room is the best place for the tank. After beginning research on the tank I read that the weight came out to be 10 lbs per gallon therefore making it 550lbs.


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## trreherd (Aug 7, 2006)

I have a 20 gallon in my room. I have all the gear that you could put on your 55 gallon(overflow box,return pump, fans on my light fixture).
You dont have to worry about smell, if you dont overstock it wont be a problem. But the noise would be the bigest problem. The noise will depend on wether or not you do a sump. Your tank would be silent if you did a fish only tank and just used some powerfilters for filtration. 
Be sure to buy a quality overflow box and return pump.
When i fire up my tank the noise is anoying at first but i get used to it. But if your doing a reef then you want to position your tank far from any tv, the bright lighting is very distraction when you want to watch the tube.

Are built in overflows quiter than hang on boxes?


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Well Casey as I said, I'm sure you weigh at least 118lbs and have never fallen through the floor.

I live in a 90 year old house in Central Austin. The construction is not of good quality. It is pier and beam. The piers being cut down brush of about 3-4" diam and sunk about 2' into the ground. The beams are 2x6ish and run 20 feet between piers. I have a 75g running perpendicular over 2 beams in the center of a room. The thing to think about is that your tank will be 4" or so from a wall right? To take advantage of a wall outlet I'm sure. The wall adds strength. But I'm sure your floors can handle 200lbs psf or people would crash through the floors all the time. Calculate water at 8.64lbs per gallon (that's what I do for a living), the tank itself will probably be even lighter as any rock or substrate you add will typically displace the water volume and make the tank slightly lighter. 
Now for the goods. I have a 125g running the same way in the same house.

If the underside is accesible it wouldn't hurt to shore it up. Would only cost a few dollars for some 4x4 landscape studs.


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## Brandon (Dec 14, 2006)

If its almost right against the wall he'll be fine because theres usually a beam right underneath unless someone built it badly.


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