How Much Weight Can A Fish Tank Take? In Rocks Etc

[philb]

I have just bought a Fluval 1000 tank, and it has a floating base, similar to the juwel, so is supported around the perimeter but not in the middle

How much weight do you think this could safely take? As i picked up a few rocks at the garden centre today, and football sized ones, were easily 10kgs plus!!

Any ideas?

 

[andyt_uk]

I have just bought a Fluval 1000 tank, and it has a floating base, similar to the juwel, so is supported around the perimeter but not in the middle

How much weight do you think this could safely take? As i picked up a few rocks at the garden centre today, and football sized ones, were easily 10kgs plus!!

Any ideas?

well i wouldnt like to put that much on my juwel tank - and thanks for reminding me about the base
then again mine supports 180 kg of h20 + various other 'stuff'
a large rock placed on existing substrate to spread the load 'might' be ok - but i probably still wouldnt risk it

 

[philb]

Im thinking, remove the perimeter support, then mount on polystyrene? and hope for the best with about 30kgs of rock!

 

[Squid]

I have stupid things going round in my head to do with the weight of the water that 1KG of your rocks would displace. I guess it depends on the rock and its density.. ohh my head hurts, its too late for things like this.. i'm off to get a beer from the fridge..

Squid

 

[PaPeRo]

There's quite an easy solution to this dilema. Buy a half inch piece of plywood with dimensions that allow it to fit perfectly inside the floating base, that way the glass will have evenly distributed pressure all around. You'd be amazed at how much weight you can exert on the glass with this support in place.

I've done this myself so I know it works. In fact with this method you can actually stand inside the tank and it will not crack. Basically the glass is sandwiched between the weight inside the tank and the upward pressure from the plywood base underneath. It does the exact same function as a non-floating flat base.

 

[Tolak]

The biggest concern with larger rocks is having a small, pin point area of weight from the rocks concenntrated on one small area. This could cause it to crack, floating base or not.

The way most people work around this is to put in a piece of eggcrate diffuser panel under the substrate, add the substrate, then rockwork. I've seen tanks totally filled with rocks using this method.

I don't know if putting a piece of plywood under the bottom glass of a floating base design would void the warranty, I would contact the tank manufacturer first.

 

[andywg]

You can put a lot of weight in a tank. As Tolak said, so long as you avoid sharp points on the bottom you should be fine.

Look at reef tanks. They have a minimum of 1kg per 2 gallons of Live Rock, and often approach 1kg per gallon.

If you are at all worried I would recommend putting a layer of polystyrene under the tanks and along the bottom, which should help to spread out any high pressure load points.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

You can put a lot of weight in a tank. As Tolak said, so long as you avoid sharp points on the bottom you should be fine.

Look at reef tanks. They have a minimum of 1kg per 2 gallons of Live Rock, and often approach 1kg per gallon.

If you are at all worried I would recommend putting a layer of polystyrene under the tanks and along the bottom, which should help to spread out any high pressure load points.

you shouldn't do polysytrene under 'floating' bases, maybe if you put the plywood in so it's not 'floating' then added it.

i wouldn't worry over it though, look at rift lake/reef tanks, you never hear of them cracking. it's the floor underneath you wanna worry over

 

[yvez9]

I wouldn't support the base completely. If say the plywoof would not be supporting the base 100% equally, it could crack. I say just let it be and buy a cheap piece of eggcrate as tolak mentionned. that should distribute the weight of the rock and prevent pressur points on the glass.

Mos of my tanks are floating base and i've never had a crack

 

[andywg]

you shouldn't do polysytrene under 'floating' bases, maybe if you put the plywood in so it's not 'floating' then added it.

Might I ask why? I understand that the weight is mostly held on the edges in such a tank, I fail to see why adding polystyrene would be viewed as detrimental to the point of advising against it. I fail to see any harm that can come from it...

My point was mostly to recommend the layer on the inside of the tank so as to prevent any sharp points beinge placed onto the glass.