Fish tank too heavy for floor?

28 . . . . . maybe someday ........ That's alot of water changes but my fish rarely get mad at me. I have never lost an arguement with them, either.

Wife would KILL ME!!!!
 
get rid of the wife...
 
Thanks all. So it sounds like I can safely get a 50 gallon or so and keep it next to an outside wall. Better, I'll try to figure out which way the floor beams run. But other people don't seem to be worrying about the 50 gallon tanks. I'll bring the same question up in a couple of years when I move to a 100 gallon tank.
 
drdud said:
Please, someone correct me if I am wrong, but I also try to make sure that I do not exceed about 20 pounds per square inch pressure.
Click to expand...

I am looking at the ASCE 7-05 codebook, and residential dwellings should be designed to take at least 40 PSF (live load).

So if a 55G tank has an approximate foot print of 4 sq ft and weighs 700 pounds... Hmm. Probably have some sort of alternative guideline to point loads.
 
So, instead of guessing, I 'googled it'. The 40 PSF is for weight equally divided over the entire floor surface. Where did I get 25# per square foot? I have no idea. Anyway, I found an interesting article from a structural engineer that spends more time scaring me then convincing me that my whole house won't fall down. Lengthy article, but kind of interesting.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php
 
Consider a fridge is anywhere from 250-400+ pounds, and no one worries about appliances falling through the floor...
 
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