Upstairs?

[osiris]

just cleared out a room so now its emtpy, planning on putting a 280 litre tank on a stand in there, will being heavy be a problem e.g fall through floor

thanks

 

[Truck]

surface area of the stand?

 

[shellz2008]

also what are your floorboards like?

 

[osiris]

sry, don't know.

would approx be 4x2x2

it would be next to an outer wall so a stronger wall if it makes a difference

 

[osiris]

they're not floorboards, they're joists with some kind of wood on top, ply wood i think

 

[smegforbrains]

How old is your house?

If it's a newer house (less than 10 years old) I would say no because these houses do not have solid joists and therefore less load bearing.

Otherwise I would say it should be OK. I would recommend a stand or cabinet with a solid base, not one on feet, with a base surface area at least the same as the base of the tank, preferably larger in order to spread the load.


You will be looking at over 300kg fully loaded, so next to a load bearing wall such as an outside wall will be best.

 

[osiris]

thanks

House in 16 years old so that seems fine

i could do with finding out how many joists it would cover

 

[drobbyb]

You are fine putting that tank in that room. Preferably against an outer wall.

 

[OldMan47]

There is no way anyone here can know what your particular house will take in terms of tank weight. In my home, I know how it is built and what the construction looks like so I would only be willing to put a tank that heavy in certain locations. The trouble is that a lot depends on the home builder and the standards that they build to. When I build something myself, I always go at least one size larger on the joists than the standard tables would suggest which means that things that I build stand up when others fall down. Even in that situation, I try not to overload any structural members beyond the standard design. I consider the extra board size as insurance, not as something to use. All floors are built to standards that are based on what is called "live load". Live load is anything that is not a part of the structure itself. It includes things like a fish tank, people, the sofa, the carpeting, etc. Live load ratings of floors would say you can never have a tank anywhere in any room because they have smaller numbers than you might believe in pounds per square foot. Your tank is only 8 square feet so would have a very small weight limit. The good news is that the rating is based on an average for the whole room so a 12 ft square room has 144 square feet, not 8. What the standard fails to ever consider is the fact that weight is not spread evenly across the whole floor. It means that even if you are well within the ratings of a floor, the floor can still fail if too much weight goes into too small a space and is not in the right place for the supports to hold that weight properly. Without an actual on-site inspection of your construction by a qualified structural engineer, you are taking your chances with any large heavy object that you move into a house. Things like a sofa or an entertainment center are common enough that the standard designs have proven themselves with those objects. A large aquarium is not at all a common item in an average house so it needs to be examined as a unique item.

 

[osiris]

Thanks, i wont do anything until i know all the numbers and have approval from my architect

 

[Miss Wiggle]

totally agree with oldman

i work for a structural engineering consultancy and this problem comes up on the forum time after time. the simple answer is that no one on here has inspected your house, knows what standards it was built to or if there are any problems like woodworm in the timbers. With something as serious as your house if you are at all concerned then you should consulta qualified structural engineer who can inspect your house and give specific tailored advice.

i asked this question of the guys at work a while back to see what they said and the results are in this topic. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=255920&hl=

it was an eye opener for sure to see what the minimum weight loads that a new build can support ..... i'll never be buying a new build house!

 

[4ft Rod]

this may have been brought up before but my bath holds a large amount of water and that never falls through the celling!

ps my 4ft tank is in my bedroom and weighs easily 4to500kgs and the floor didnt even creek! and the house is only 10yrs old

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah, baths are in a specific place and you shouldn't move them, they have extra support under them

there's also a difference between temporary loads and permanent loads, the effect on the structure of the building is different.

 

[pastabake]

I have never ever seen any extra support for a bath and I've lived in quite a few houses around the country.

 

[4ft Rod]

The weight of a bath rests on 4 small feet where as a good aquarium cabinet covers the same area as the tank therefore distributing the weight better than a bath.