Questions About 55 Gallon Tank

[guppymommy]

Hello, this may seem like a stupid question, but then again, there are no stupid questions, right?

I live in a small mobile home and at the moment I have a 55 gallon tank kit and stand on layaway. My mother expressed a concern that the floor of my mobile home might not be strong enough to support the weight of the tank and stand. Does anyone have any idea how much these things weigh when filled with water? Is my mother's concern valid? Will the tank fall through the floor?

Also, I currently have two ten gallon tanks, two five gallon tanks, and one one gallon tank. The two five gallon tanks have biowheels and the ten gallon tanks have the biofilters. The 55 gallon tank will have biofilter media. I wondered if it would be possible to use filter media from the other tanks to help jump start the cycling of the 55 gal? If so, how would I go about it? Do I use the bio filter, or the carbon filter insert? They aren't the same size as teh 55 gal filter, but would it still be possible to use them? If not, I know it wouldn't be practical to put the 55 gal filter into one of the ten gallon tanks, but could I put one of the ten gallon filters into the 55 gal tank and run it for a while? Would this have the same effect as running the new filter in the established tank?

Of course, if the tank is going to fall through the floor, it doesn't matter if I cycle the tank or not as I won't be able to get it anyway.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[StingrayKid]

I seriously doubt that the tank would fall through the floor of your home. It could depend on where you put the tank. I have my 55gal in my room, which is quite small and on the second story of my home. I put my tank over a solid beam that helps support the second story. If you've got a solid foundation, or you support the tank location with something, you should be fine. It all depends on where you're placing the aquarium and what is supporting it. If the floor is rotted or damaged, the tank falling through the floor may be a possibility.
When I first bought my 55gal, I just used the filters from my other tanks like you want to do. It certainly helps the cycle of the tank. Also, I used a bunch of black tetras to help cycle the tank. There are also products that contain beneficial bacteria that are used for starting up an aquarium. You could try using the media from your established tanks to help out the cycling process. I know I just squeezed and rinsed the media from my other tanks into the filter of the new 55gal, to get some bacteria in there. In my opinion, I think youre best bet would be to make use of your established tanks and add some hardy fish to cycle the tank out.

 

[Lord Zogat]

The weight of a tank roughly is 10 pounds per gallon, so your tank would be close to 550 pounds.