Please Reassure Me Im Ok....

[poopsydrew]

Hey all,
Quick and dumb beginner question. I have been reading some threads and some people saying they are not sure if their floor can support their tank. I live on the second floor of an apartment and am about to get a 50 gallon tank. this may seem silly but that wont be a problem with too much weight on my floor right? If anyone knows please let me know because i am a little worried....

 

[marcan]

50 US Gal or 50 UK Gal?
50 US Gal is around 400 pounds ~ 180kg. It's not that heavy.

If you can, try to place your tank near a bearing wall but dont worry too much about the weight. Almost any floor can support aquarium up to ~55 gallons without much worry.

You will be fine

Good luck!

 

[smmetz]

I would not worry about a 50 gallon tank, unless you already have something rediculously heavy, like a waterbed or a few other 50+ gallon tanks.

 

[*Fishkies*]

I would not worry about it. Think of having about 4 or 5 adults standing in one spot. That would equal about the same weight of your aquarium.

 

[rdd1952]

I would not worry about it. Think of having about 4 or 5 adults standing in one spot. That would equal about the same weight of your aquarium.

That's not really a good analogy since they won't be standing there all day, every day. It shouldn't be a problem unless there are structural issues with the floor. Only an engineer or inspector could say for sure.

 

[*Fishkies*]

I would not worry about it. Think of having about 4 or 5 adults standing in one spot. That would equal about the same weight of your aquarium.

That's not really a good analogy since they won't be standing there all day, every day. It shouldn't be a problem unless there are structural issues with the floor. Only an engineer or inspector could say for sure.

Sure it is!! Because it gives them a weight perspective of their tank. No the people wouldn't be standing there all the time, but it's just an example!

 

[rdd1952]

As I said, not a good example. Five people could stand there for 5 minutes without any problem but put the same weight there for 5 months constant and it could break. The five people only tells them that the tank would be safe for 5 minutes or ever how long they stood there. Constant weight adds much more stress than temporary weight.

 

[fishkers]

As I said, not a good example. Five people could stand there for 5 minutes without any problem but put the same weight there for 5 months constant and it could break. The five people only tells them that the tank would be safe for 5 minutes or ever how long they stood there. Constant weight adds much more stress than temporary weight.

Thats a little rude and disrespectful don't you think!?!!

I think yoiu will be fine with the tank. As stated before, try and place it near a good solid wall and it will be fine.

 

[poopsydrew]

Ok thanks all for the replies, it will be on a stand against a wall so i think it will be fine too, considering i dont have anything else really heavy in that room and the only other tank i have is a 10 gallon. sorry if this thread started some kind of debate/argument. thanks for all the imput everyone, this forum rocks.

oh and by the way sorry i meant us gallons but you had me covered, thanks.

 

[Tolak]

The idea that, 3, 4, or however many people weighing as much as the tank equalling the same as the tank is not valid for any substantial weight. Long term stress from a load is different from temporary stress. Check out this article, written by a structural engineer; http/badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html

 

[Yazan]

I've also heard that you must place foam (or whatever that thing is) under your tank to stop it from splitting.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

As I said, not a good example. Five people could stand there for 5 minutes without any problem but put the same weight there for 5 months constant and it could break. The five people only tells them that the tank would be safe for 5 minutes or ever how long they stood there. Constant weight adds much more stress than temporary weight.

rdd is quite right and i don't think he's being even slightly rude or disrespectful!

this sort of question comes up a lot of the time and unfortunately there is no set answer we can give you. ever house is different depending on a massive number of factors like how it was built, age, quality of building materials, positioning of load, any damage or deterioration to the house etc etc etc.

For us to advise it will be fine is quite unwise as someone's house is a massive thing to take a gamble with. If you are at all worried you should get a qualified structural engineer out to look at your house and check for you. we are not trained professionals (well there's one structural engineer on this site that i know of, but for the most part we aren't), we can't see your house so there's no way we can tell. I for one would not want to be responsible for telling someone it's fine then they're floor collapsing under the weight of it 6 months later!!

 

[fishkers]

The example given though does not refer to sustaining tank weight!!! It refers to giving them an example of how much the tank will weigh. This is an example to put it into a different perspective because people usually don't quite understand how much a tank weighs. It makes a lot more sense for me to think of 4 people standing there than it does a 50 gallon tank of water.

 

[Underwurlde]

Defendant (*Fishkies*): "M'lud, I'm really sorry that my 50Gallon tank came crashing through the ceiling of my flat killing and maiming all those orphans who were unfortunately sleeping directly below it, but someone on a forum told me it would be OK. Honest Guv"

Judge Justice Jeffries: "Moving quickly on to sentencing then."

'nuff said?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Defendant (*Fishkies*): "M'lud, I'm really sorry that my 50Gallon tank came crashing through the ceiling of my flat killing and maiming all those orphans who were unfortunately sleeping directly below it, but someone on a forum told me it would be OK. Honest Guv"

Judge Justice Jeffries: "Moving quickly on to sentencing then."

'nuff said?

exactly