View Full Version : Too Heavy??
andyt1286
05-05-2003, 5:00 PM
Is a 75 gallon aquarium too heavy to put on a second floor?? This house is a new house, we just moved in 2 months ago.
Andy
mickey
05-05-2003, 6:34 PM
The tank will weigh about 600lbs when you have it filled with water and gravel but if you have the proper cabinet for it and the weight is distributed evenly you should be ok.
Depending on your floor type of course.
Cheers.
If you just moved in two months ago call the builder. I moved in to my house about a year ago and called the builder and he said my 150 would be fine on the second floor. If you can not contact him find a waterbed store. Waterbeds are very heavy also. Sometimes they will check your floor to see if it will support one if you feign interest in one of their products. I have only heard this from other people, never actually tried it and I have no honest idea how they would test other than maybe figuring the age of the structure and the width of the beams etc.
serjuanca888
05-05-2003, 7:36 PM
Make sure you run it opposite the floor joints
you can look in your attic to see which way they run
To know for sure you really need to get a professional in there. If you just go ahead and fill it up without doing your homework, the floor might hold for a day a week or a year before it finally collapses. Don't assume it's OK just because the floor didn't give way when you filled it up.
I just set up a 100 gallon in my little ranch and had my Dad (a carpenter) come out to look at it. It turns out that just by luck there were supports directly underneath the aquarium going down into concrete blocks so I was good.
kveeti
05-05-2003, 9:08 PM
slipknottin once posted this link on the subject, which I bookmarked, worth the read:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php
how would you go about doing that in an apartment building? i have a 75 gallon, i would like to live on the 2nd floor, but i dont want the landlords to not approve of me because i sound concerned with my fishtank falling through the floor? i mean a floor should be able to hold a 75 gallon aquarium shouldnt it? it is on a wood homemade stand, which has a large surface area so it distributes the weight nicely.
TomFromStLouis
05-06-2003, 12:18 AM
Originally posted by caz
how would you go about doing that in an apartment building?
I would pay attention to the discussion about partition walls and bearing walls. Try to determine which direction the floor joists go (probably the same as the first floor ones viewed from the basement) and put the tank across the floor joists near a bearing wall.
I doubt that a 75g would strecth any reasonably made structure if so placed. Now, let's talk about the 180g....
"Why all this worry about weight? I am a 200 lb man and I can fill my bath tub with water and get in the tub without crashing through the floor." Well, the builder knew where he was going to put the bath tub so he put extra floor joists there to take care of the higher loads.
Did he know where I was going to put my bed? Between me and my wife and the dog and cats and a solid cherry sleigh bed I would say we were upwards of six hundred pounds, yet I didn't think twice.....I guess it's my own fault for not checking. Six hundred pounds is relatively not that much...I think, would you feel funny putting down a couch and having three friends sit on it?
OrionGirl
05-06-2003, 2:26 PM
Check out the link...It addresses your question exactly. As for the bed--beds are designed to distribute weight over a wider area than most fish tank stands. Odds are, you bed crosses 3-4 joists, so the pounds/square foot is really low. Pack the same weight into a smaller area, and you may have a problem. Better to check than deal with the consequences.
Beds definately distribute weight over a wider area. I think just checking is the best idea. I still think six hundred pounds is not that bis a deal. Four feet could only randomly be differerent from a six foot couch (as far as position and floor joists are concerned) but checking is still the best idea.
Macromatt
05-06-2003, 4:07 PM
Get a few friends (about 600lbs worth) and stand in a little line ine the spot where the tank goes. If you think the 3,4 or 5 of you would fall through the floor, then don't put the tank there. Most tanks, unless unusually tall will be fine in any building. The weight per square inch is pretty small.
Matt
VoodooChild
05-06-2003, 4:38 PM
I just make sure I have my tanks running perpendicular over a couple of support beams. My 55 hasn't gone through the floor yet and it's been two years.
There is a very big difference between 3 or 4 of your friends standing in one spot for a minute or two, and having a 750 pound tank sitting in the same spot for months or years.
55 gallon tanks are small enough you can put them pretty much anywhere and be OK. 75 is pushing it though.
I still think you should have a pro give it a look. They would at least be able to tell you which walls are load-bearing, so you have a better idea where to put it.
BTW, One thing you can do to spread the weight of the tank over more joists is to put it on a piece of plywood so the legs are not pressure points.
slipknottin
05-06-2003, 8:13 PM
Your subfloor is already doing that. ;)
TomFromStLouis
05-07-2003, 9:45 AM
The last eight posts in this thread all discuss issues thoroughly covered in the fine link that kveeti provided. I suggest that anyone posting to this thread hereafter read the link completely before chiming in. It was written by a structural engineer and specifically geared directly at aquarium keepers and thoroughly addresses any concerns facing someone worried about tank weight and placement.
slipknottin obviously read it.