how much weight

[hellohefalump]

At the moment I have one 125 litre aquarium in my bedroom. How many litres (litre=1kg) do you think I could keep in my room safely?

 

[scott67892002]

i'm sure it's kg per litre. also bear in mind that rocks and other decorations can wiegh more then water! i have a 130 litre tank up stairs in our house and its fine! you need to make sure the base of your stand spreads the weight.

 

[hellohefalump]

good point about the rocks! thanks

 

[jimw13uk]

Also make sure the tank goes across multiple floor joists and isnt running with them.
Your tank should run the same way as your floor boards as they will be running over multiple joists obviously

 

[rich]

Excluding rocks etc., a 125L tank is equivalent to 1.5 people of my weight. How many people would you start to worry about standing in your bedroom?

If 15 people came into your room, would you be panicking? Which is equivalent to 10 of your current tanks.

If you wanted another couple of tanks, that's the same as 3 people living there, which a house must be designed for. Plus a good quality solid wooden fully laden wardrobe will also weigh as much.

Just don't try putting in a tank like the main one at 'The Deep' in Hull!! (if you've heard of it)

 

[jimw13uk]

Only problem with "the people theory" is that the tank is a constant weight - people move around and weight is distributed differently.
A tanks weight is constant and even.
I would have agreed with you on "i dont worry when we all go upstairs etc." until i read some info on www.cichlid-forum.com about tank weights and distribution.

 

[hellohefalump]

If you wanted another couple of tanks, that's the same as 3 people living there, which a house must be designed for. Plus a good quality solid wooden fully laden wardrobe will also weigh as much.

great news!! I never thought about it like that! thankyou so much!

I'm thinking of selling a lot of my junk of ebay to make room (and money) for more tanks because my housemates might start complaining if I put more in the living room.

 

[hellohefalump]

A tanks weight is constant and even.

*wails like a banshee* nooooooooooooooooooooo......

 

[rich]

That's actually better it being constant and even, as once it is there it will (or rather should) not break. People movement would stress the joists with the constant impact.

It is a good a point about distribution, it will depend on the size of your floorboards. I live in a modern house with large floorboards covering a large area, therfore the weight is naturally spread.

If your having multiple tanks then just don't keep them all next to each other.

 

[jimw13uk]

Apart from water change time - a tanks weight has to be constant and even
OK - so you have slight evaporation which can affect its weight - but thats negligable. the movement of water within the glass will not affect its weight nor its weight distribution

So why do you say Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[breezer40]

I have one bedroom with 20 tanks ranging from 4ft to 18 ins. I built frames that run from one wall to the other and as these are brick outside walls they support alot of the weight. To support the middle I did 3inch square joists.

 

[jimw13uk]

I have one bedroom with 20 tanks ranging from 4ft to 18 ins. I built frames that run from one wall to the other and as these are brick outside walls they support alot of the weight. To support the middle I did 3inch square joists.

The wall supports will again help to distribute the weight. No one point has maximum load - multiple support points help even out weight distribution.

I wouldn't worry too much about putting a larger tank upstairs but I would just be sensible about it and spread the weight evenly in the room and ensure that the tanks span joists

 

[Gunny]

Well I have 230kg of water in my 1st floor bedroom, Its up against a Internal brickwall so the load goes straight to the foundations.
Its been set up in my room for nearly a month now and so far there's no signs of the ceiling below bowing

 

[jimw13uk]

there you go - as I keep saying It is possible just be sensible and spread the load over mutliple joists