Daughter Needs New Tank

riksworld · May 31, 2008

Hi all,

thanks to the site ive now managed to get my 200 litre tank setup and running like a charm in the living room, at the moment anyway, enough of the chit chat, one of my kids allready has a small 21litre tank upstairs, but this is getting a little small now, im currently looking at a 60 litre tank to replace this, do you think this would be pretty safe in a brand new house in her bedroom?

just woundering as i dont want it to go through into the living room

thanks to all who replys

Miss Wiggle · May 31, 2008

ordinarily for this sort of question i say before you put any body of water permanently upstairs you should consult a structural engineer about it, this is because every house is constructed differently and no one can tell the condition from you posting on a forum, added to which we are not qualified to advise, when it's something as serious as your house at stake w should be wary on giving out advice.

However that being said, 60l is really not that big at all, a litre of water ways a kilogram, I imagine if you weighed your wardrobe with all your clothes in it, it'd be 60kilos........ i think that's perfectly safe.

OldMan47 · May 31, 2008

You can figure the 60 litre will weigh about 60 kilograms plus another 20 for the glass and the stand its on. That's not much of a load on a modern floor so it should be fine. You might want to give this thread a quick read if you don't have the tank yet.
http

/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...ve-To-Give-Up-/

freddythefish · May 31, 2008

well I have 2 tanks that add up to about 200L in my bedroom (upstairs) so although as someone said we shouldn't give advice on that aspect I can't see as 60L would cause that much of a problem : d:D

aquanovice · May 31, 2008

Miss Wiggle said:
ordinarily for this sort of question i say before you put any body of water permanently upstairs you should consult a structural engineer about it, this is because every house is constructed differently and no one can tell the condition from you posting on a forum, added to which we are not qualified to advise, when it's something as serious as your house at stake w should be wary on giving out advice.

Why would you want to go to engineer about a fish tank?
I would just make sure my insurance company knew about it first!

Miss Wiggle · May 31, 2008

before putting any loads onto your house you shoudl consult a structural engineer, they can advise you if the house will hold the weight or if any measures need to be taken to hold it.

personally I'd rather my house didn't fall down in the first place rather than worrying over weather the insurance will pay out

aquanovice · May 31, 2008

No seriously your suppose to tell the insurance company i heard one time that someone's 350g tank leaked and the well known company didnt help her out as they complained she didnt tell them about the mass of water she has in her house. She had to complain about it for half a year until they paid up.

hey, im running a bath tonight do i have to call someone up about that?

Miss Wiggle · May 31, 2008

aquanovice said:
No seriously your suppose to tell the insurance company i heard one time that someone's 350g tank leaked and the well known company didnt help her out as they complained she didnt tell them about the mass of water she has in her house. She had to complain about it for half a year until they paid up.

hey, im running a bath tonight do i have to call someone up about that?

depends what country you are in, different companies have different legislation for insurance.

you don't have to declare it in the UK.

aquanovice · May 31, 2008

Maybe that was just a bad horror story going around? :l

dwarfgourami · May 31, 2008

I weigh more than 60 kg and I was thinking of going upstairs in a minute :unsure:

rabbut · May 31, 2008

You have got to remember that a floor behaves differently when it is loaded for a prolonged period of time. You could put 15 people in an upstears room and probibly not notice any issues, but if you leave them all in the same spot of a couple of weeks, the floor could quite possible collapse as a result of the prolonged stressing forces. There is an interesting thread somwhere in the Hardware section, that links to a webpage written by a structural engineer, that explains why this is the case. :nod:

I had a Record 98 in an upstears room for about 5 years, and there is now a dip over the area it was in, so it goes to show that though issues with loading stress on the floor may not be imediately be apparent, they can appear over time. Luckily we moved it when we did, as now we are having to have the floor repaired, due to this weight permenantly damaging it :crazy:

The person whom inspected it told us that a floor collapse was on the cards very soon if the tank had been left there any longer. there have also been stories of 100g tanks falling through the floor, after being sat in the same place for over 10 years.

All the best
Rabbut

dwarfgourami · May 31, 2008

Yes, but surely not under a 60 kg weight, Rabbut. Unless it's a very bad floor. I am sure my wardrobe weighs at least 60 kg, and so does a bookcase full of books. I know many houses in the UK are badly built, but you do expect to be able to keep a bookcase in your bedroom.

JenCliBee · May 31, 2008

i had a 300l tank in 1 of my bedrooms(floorboards) for around 4 years and no damage , nowarping so id say u would be fine

rabbut · May 31, 2008

Would have thought a 60l would be fine, but I thought that about the 98l, which isn't realy that much bigger. Well built houses should take it, but others may not. Only a professional would be able to tell for sure :nod: