Tank Weight Limit!

[rallyingmick]

Hi all,

Im new here, anyway i have at the moment a 130L tank in my newly aquired flat.

Now i have 2 plecs an african chilid aswell as some other smaller stuff.
Now i want a bigger tank but as im on the fisrt floor what would you say is a safe weight to have n your front room.

May sound silly but we all know how much this stuff weighs!! And not sure if the tennant below would appreciate me taking over there front room!

info appreciated

Regards

Mike

 

[jenny6165]

i wouldnt have thought it would be a problem given that there are floorboards?
we live in a one bedroom house and our living room is upstairs, the weight of a tank has never crossed my mind?

people have bathtubs upstairs full of water


i hope im not horribly wrong

 

[tony2501]

I have a 200L and a 100L below it on a 4 ft metal stand, in my ist floor bedroom and have never had any problems - just site it so you spread the load over as many joists as possible.

 

[Bloo]

Seems like a lot of people are asking about large tank weight recently.

Without typing it out all again:

These are two recent threads you must read. Both of them commented on by Fillet 'O' Fish (a member who's also a structural engineer!).

Tank Weight, Need Help

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However in essence this is one of the best articles I've found.

And do be aware of what is said below.

Quoted from that article:

And now for the most commonly perpetuated myth of all. Someone in the forum asks if they think it is possible to place a 120 gallon tank on the second floor of their apartment. The answers inevitably go something like this: "I see no reason you can't. I've had a 125 gallon aquarium in my bedroom for years."

Myth #17: "If my floor didn't collapse with a ??? gallon aquarium, then your floor should be okay too"

Since the person posting the question provides no information at all about the composition of the floor construction, the span of the floor framing or the relative position of the tank, there is just no way for anyone to provide a logical answer. Yet answers flow from people perfectly willing to compare apples to oranges to watermellons to come up with a recomendation. (And in this example the comparison is even a worse because the 125 gallon tank is 6 ft long and the 120 gallon tank is only 4 ft long.)

If you know why the answer given in myth #17 is so illogical, then you understand why I decided to sit down and write this all out.

 

[BigIan]

This question crops up many many times,

And there is no clear answer. it all depends on how your house was built where in the room it is situated, ect.
If you think that 1ltr of water weight 1 kg,
then you add the weight of the tank, stand equipment and substrate, it al comes to a hefty amount,
how old if your house, what sort of joists does it have? what sort of flooring? is it situated next to a load bearing wall? how are the joists tied into the wall???

 

[rallyingmick]

This question crops up many many times,

And there is no clear answer. it all depends on how your house was built where in the room it is situated, ect.
If you think that 1ltr of water weight 1 kg,
then you add the weight of the tank, stand equipment and substrate, it al comes to a hefty amount,
how old if your house, what sort of joists does it have? what sort of flooring? is it situated next to a load bearing wall? how are the joists tied into the wall???

Hi thanks guys for all your help really appreciated.
Anyway the set of apartments i liver in are pretty new its wood flooring below the carpet.

As for bearing walls etc i wouldnt know as there is a flat next door to me either side so i wouldnt know which one is bearing ect if that makes sense! And i havent looked into the joining of joists etc ...sorry


Using the handy claculator provided what im aiming for on average im probably looking at a weight of 260kg's maybe more with with eact tank weight etc!!! hhhmmm seems alot

 

[BigIan]

how old is the house, generaly if the wall is made of stone/brick ect then it will be a supporting wall,
another good way to check is wich way do the floor boards run? as the joists will run the opposite way to the floor boards...

 

[Underwurlde]

There is a clear answer: Ask a qualified and accredited Structutal Engineer to assess your house.

Any other advice I would have to say is DANGEROUS.

No point you saying that forum members told you it was OK when a cop is asking you why your fish tank killed the tennant below you when it fell through his ceiling.....

Sorry about being so blunt.

Andy

 

[smithrc]

I'll go out on a limb here... 130L is not a lot to worry about

you'll be talking about the weight of 2 people...

 

[rallyingmick]

yeah, 130l is what i have at the moment but im wanting to take that up to around 300 after xmas.

Thats whats made me think.
My uncle's a builder gonna get him to cast his vote, hell probably rub his chin and say hmmmmm...........

ITS GONNA COST YA!

p.s Andy i know what your saying!!! would not be nice