Fish Tanks In Flats...

[hensonc4098]

Hi guys

Currently got 2 bigger tanks at mum and dads house and the smallest 35L tank in my flat.

I'd really like to upgrade the 35L so I can have a big mix of colourful tetras etc to distract me from studying, however am a bit apprehensive about weight due to size - not fancying the idea of "dropping in" on one of my neighbours, if you catch my drift...

So basically, does anyone have tanks in flats etc. that could advise on how much is *safe* lol Or know anything about flats... I don't. To me, they're just tall houses...

Cheers

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I have 5 tanks in a 1st floor flat, with the two 4-footers running across the joists, but the 5x2x2 will always stay in the garage while we are here (shame as some of my favourites are down there). But as to what is safe, only a structural survey engineer can tell you that after an inspection.

 

[hensonc4098]

Awesome. I mean, I'm not looking at anything MASSIVE, maybe 100-150L or so? I tried jumping up and down on my floor a time or two but that didn't help my conclusions much.

 

[Nettley]

I've seen a 7fter on a 1st floor flat cant have been any smaller than 2w x 2h.. didnt think anything of it then but now i have a rio 400 that weighs around half a ton seem pretty scary!

 

[Llegmore]

I keep two 10 gallons, a 35 gallon and a 40 gallon in one room on the 1st floor. That's 409 litres. So far, I've not fallen through the floor

I like to think that baths hold more water and they're generally all right.

 

[hensonc4098]

I like to think that baths hold more water and they're generally all right.

Good point... Going to ask one of my friends at hockey practise tonight who's a surveyor guy. See if he has any pearls of wisdom...

 

[Bugdozer]

To give you an idea of weights involved:
1 litre of water = 1 kg. An average man weighs about 70-75 kg. Floors can support that weight just on the surface area of our feet. I'm sure you'd be happy to have three people come and stand in a room, so think of that as a weight of 200kg approx. Of couse as well as the water you have to allow for weight of tank itself and the stand. To be honest, if any room cannot support the weight of a fishtank up to about 200 kg (especially spread across the joists as Nobody Of The Goat says) then it isn't safe for human habitation anyway. So a 100 litre tank should be able to be put in pretty much any room.

 

[bigfish-smallpond]

heeeheee.. the structual engineer in me is dying to comment lol... the force that is exerted on your floor should be evenly distributed to what is known as a Uniformly distributed load (UDL). Basically put the weight (say approx 450 kilos for a 400 litre tank) and ensure its spread evenly on the floor so choose a base unit with a flat bottom, not a table with four legs. This spreads the load over several floor beams. Its best if you place the tank so it stradles several floor beams if they are timber structual floors.(if you can tell which way the beams go?) If its concrete floors it doesn't matter.

Incidentally this is less weight than my better half has in one wardrobe full of shoes and handbags! I had a 1 foot, a two foot , two three foots and a four foot tank in a one bedroom flat many moons ago..... but watch out because some landlords put a limit on tanks because of the potential damage 400 litres of water can do to the poor #28### living downstairs from you! MIne had set limit to a paltry 30 litres,,,,, and no pets but we ignored the litte tw*t and never let him in the flat in three years lmao

Enjoy having your fish home

 

[PrairieSunflower]

If your bath tub can sit filled without special support, so can your fish tanks. There are plenty of things in our homes already weighing at least as much as a fish tank.

We have recently moved and I was pleased as could be that absolutely no estate agents or landlords cared one bit that I was going to have aquariums.

 

[Peter C]

To give you an idea of weights involved:
1 litre of water = 1 kg. An average man weighs about 70-75 kg.Floors can support that weight just on the surface area of our feet. I'm sure you'd be happy to have three people come and stand in a room, so think of that as a weight of 200kg approx. Of couse as well as the water you have to allow for weight of tank itself and the stand. To be honest, if any room cannot support the weight of a fishtank up to about 200 kg (especially spread across the joists as Nobody Of The Goat says) then it isn't safe for human habitation anyway. So a 100 litre tank should be able to be put in pretty much any room.

My bird almost weighs that lol most of my mates are all 14 / 15 /16 stone which is about 90 - 100kg

I'm 95 kilo an about 15 stone ish

 

[hensonc4098]

Yeah, seems logical that if me, my other half and my flatmate can all group hug on the same bit of floor then it'll be cool to plonk a fish tank there. Been looking on gumtree and the likes for something half decent already. Strike the iron when it's hot and all that...

Also, my floors are timber joists, but I don't know what way they run... Any way of knowing this without pulling up the floor in my cupboard or something? Will they run the same way as the joists in the loft? (I'm on the top floor = free huge loft space... )

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

There are some fatal flaws in the logic being applied to what test makes a floor structurally sound for a fish tank coming up in this thread, ones that always come up in such threads...

• Baths usually have extra support under them to take the weight of ~200l of water, the temporary weight of a person and the weight of the bath itself (albeit cast iron baths are rare these days).
• Having a "group hug" or getting mates to sit on a bit of furniture for a few minutes where the tank is going to be is not the same as having lets say a 200l capacity tank setup in a location for lets say the next 5 years!

 

[basboi85]

To give you an idea of weights involved:
1 litre of water = 1 kg. An average man weighs about 70-75 kg. Floors can support that weight just on the surface area of our feet. I'm sure you'd be happy to have three people come and stand in a room, so think of that as a weight of 200kg approx. Of couse as well as the water you have to allow for weight of tank itself and the stand. To be honest, if any room cannot support the weight of a fishtank up to about 200 kg (especially spread across the joists as Nobody Of The Goat says) then it isn't safe for human habitation anyway. So a 100 litre tank should be able to be put in pretty much any room.

really??? average man weighs 70-75kg i must be buggered then as im 95Kg i best be getting off that see food and eat it diet

 

[psp83]

I've got a 125 ltr tank in the office (upstairs) it's sat on the new Fluval Roma stands that have 2 legs at the side.

When I first had it I just sat it in the corner, filled the tank up and thought nothing of it for a few days, I then noticed the floor boards starting to kick up on the ends and found out that the legs of the stand/tank was on the edge of the floor boards, so it was putting all the weight on a little area

So I bought some 18mm ply, cut it to be slightly bigger than the stand, emptied the tank and put it under the stand, problem solved

 

[cms091]

emptied the tank and put it under the stand,

Ehh??!!??