Another Tank Weight Q

C

csmaster

AC Members
Oct 26, 2001
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Derbyshire, UK
Hi, I may soon be getting a Juwel Rio 240 Litre tank with wooden cabinat, It will have sand about 2" deep, can anyone give me a rought guess t what it will weigh?

I would like to put the tank upstairs, but do u think that would just be looking for trouble?

I understand its best to place the tank across as many joists as possible and against a load bearing wall, is that right? and if so how do i know which wall is the weight bearing one?

Thanks in advance :)
 
I don't know the conversion for liters, but most resources I've found say to plan for around 10lbs per gallon. This accounts for water, gravel, rocks, stand, canopy, etc. I'm sure some will be more and some will be less, but that seems like a good estimate.
 
A 240 liter is 63.36 gallons, or about the same as a 65g. Its a big tank, but I wouldn't think it'd be excessive on most floors. This table at the Krib faq gives an estimate of 775 lbs for a 65. Thats more than the combined weight of the water and the tank, so I'm assuming they're accounting for "normal" accessories as well. This article covers the weight question in more detail than you'll find in a post. Great site for African cichlids as well (Malawi & Victoria).

If you look at your floorplan you should be able to work out which walls are load-bearing. If there is a wall that doesn't have a wall underneath it (one floor down), its not. If you can find a wall that's continuous from room to room, it probably is. If you look at it for a bit it'll make sense. The joists most likely span the shorter length, so you probably want to go paralell to the longer wall.
 
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None of my bedroom walls have a wall directly beneath them. I thort the bearing wall was the one what divided our house from the neighbours? (semi-detached house) So there 2 walls left in my room, 1 is the back of the house which ober looks the garden with the window in it and the other is the 1 that divides us from the neighbours.

The joists actually go lenthways in my room, so really what only leaves the back wall with the window in it overlooking the garden, but that whould overlap the window then, and also has the radiator is on that wall
 
The shared wall is probably a load-bearing wall. What's underneath the front wall? Is there a wall near it? The issue is really how far out into the span you're going. Is there an area along the sidewall with another wall underneath it? How stout is your construction? If you read the article you'll be familiar enough with the concepts to make a call based on what you're looking at and what you're comfortable with. Hard to give an all-clear from out here…
 
A 20 gallon wieghs about 200 pounds, so do the math. If the floor doesn't look sturdy enough throw in some supports, you wouldn't want to wake up in the morning with a hole in your second floot and water all over the place :D
 
I think it will have to go downstairs, dont want to take the risk! I guess the weight to be 650lbs tops, does this seem about rite? which is like 38 stone (do americans use stones? ) which would be like 3 buff blokes standing in the corner of the room lol so i think it will be ok!
 
I've got a lot of family on your side of the pond, so I've heard of stones. I think I weigh about 13 stone, and my two brothers are probably 14 and 15. When I contemplate my one day 75 I usually just think of the 3 of us sitting on a couch in perpetuity. This has happened on the odd football Sunday :rolleyes: :D .

(:cool: Go Blue! :cool: )

I've heard 10 lbs a gallon as a rough guesstimate -- that seems a little light to me. All-Glass uses about 12 lbs a gallon on their chart. I think we may over think some of the weight stuff and that it really has more to do with being able to sleep soundly than it does with engineering. But sleep is important too. I'd imagine you'd see cracks in the plaster long before the tank went through the floor, but the potential downside is serious. Is a 65g going to be ok? Yeah, probably. Are you going to worry about it? If the answer is also "Yeah, probably…", then I'd put it downstairs.
 
Originally posted by ArkyLady
I don't know the conversion for liters, but most resources I've found say to plan for around 10lbs per gallon. This accounts for water, gravel, rocks, stand, canopy, etc. I'm sure some will be more and some will be less, but that seems like a good estimate.
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But are you talking 10lbs per US gallon or Imperial gallon (as someone in the UK would be)?

As the tank was specified in metric its best to use to metric:

one litre = one kilogram. Easy.

A rough assumption is add 15% for the tank and another 15% for the gravel. Thus your 240 litre tank weighes in at 312kg (or 49 stone).

Gumby
 
well the only way i will know the weight for sure is to fill a mearuring jug with a litre of water and weigh it! (but i have no scales lol!!) and then just guess the tank weight, i'm guessing 20-25 kg for the gravel
 
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