Stability of 55-gallon tank setup

[Mariarosefishlover]

Hi, this is my very first Forum I've ever participated in 😊  last year I started out with a betta in a bowl, then I researched and found out how bad a bowl is for a Betta, so I got a 5 gallon tank - then a 10 gallon tank and some corydoras and neon tetras. I got another 5 gallon tank and another betta with a few more corydoras. Still want more, so I got a 20 long and some beautiful black Ruby Barb's, Cherry Barb's.  Long story short I had five fish tanks going, which is a lot of work. So I decided to get a 55 gallon tank and set it up on cinder blocks and 2 X 6's.  I have researched and it says that only the Four Corners need to be supported, my question is how much of the four corners? After I set everything all up, I noticed it wasn't flush and was able to put a piece of paper between the corner of the tank and the wood. Now the tank is on half-inch thick pieces of wood that are the width of the tank, 13 inches, but only 1 and a 1/2 in to the length of the tank, 48 long.  I have watched Cory's videos stating only the corners need to be supported, I'm just wondering if that's enough support. The width of the tank is supported but only 1  1/2 inches for the length of the tank on either side.  I hope that makes sense, I don't know how to insert a photo. I have to say the tank looks gorgeous the way I set it up, I'm just worried about the Integrity of the tank.

[FrozenFins]

The Aquarium Co-Op in person shop has only the "width sides" supported. The if the four corners along with the hole "width side" is being suported it should be fine.

heres what I mean by "width side"

[Mariarosefishlover]

Thank you for your response James 🙂 The width of the tank is supported, but length of that support only extends 1 and a 1/2 inches. So the length of the tank is 48 inches and only 3 inches of the length is supported, is that ok?

[Maggie]

That seems very risky to me on a 55 gallon tank, since the cost to have it supported correctly is a lot lower than the cost if it fails, but I'm a low-risk person. Also, it would void the manufacturer's warranty, which I believe for a tank that size is usually around 5 years.

[Fish Folk]

@Mariarosefishlover welcome to the forum! You’re going to have a fun journey. Like you, we started small. Now running 20+ tanks. You’ll figure out what works for you. 
 

Regarding your 55-gal, bear in mind that it’s full weight will be between 500-600 lbs. Without some photos, it’s hard to evaluate your set up. Yes — it is true that only the bottom rim needs to be supported. Perhaps even just the corners. However, as @Maggie suggests... an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If your blocks get bumped... will the tank topple? 55 gallons of water on your floor is a lot of water.... consider taking a full 4-gallon pail of water from a mop bucket, and dumping that on your floor. Then imagine doing that about 13x times.

Our general rule of thumb is that if a tank exceeds 20 gallons, we either buy or build a serious stand that will secure it well. 
 

However! Don’t fear making your own mistakes, doing your own research, and going for things too. Here’s to the best outcome for you!! 😁

Edited January 25, 2021 by Fish Folk

[JettsPapa]

If you do decide to go with cinder blocks, be sure to set them correctly.  The holes should be extending top to bottom, not side to side.  They're much stronger that way.

[Frank]

I would certainly not want to be able to slip any piece of paper anywhere between the tank bottom and its support.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Frank
edited for clarity

[Daniel]

On 1/24/2021 at 9:32 PM, Mariarosefishlover said:

 I hope that makes sense, I don't know how to insert a photo. I have to say the tank looks gorgeous the way I set it up, I'm just worried about the Integrity of the tank.

@Lizzie Block had a good post on how to insert photos: