before I sell my 110gal tank

[melana]

Hi everyone,
Before I decide to sell my 110gal RR tank, I just want to make sure that I really can't move it to my new apartment. The apartment that I might decide to take is a second floor apt of an older house. The question for me is can the floor and joyces hold a 110gal with about 140lbs of rock and a 3' sand bed? I figured that it must be close to about 1000lbs +/-. Anybody out there that can help me with this one? I was also planning to have a sump tank under the main tank but I am not sure if thats a great idea because of the added wieght. Is there anyway other than asking the owner ( which she probally won't know) about the house structure to see if it can support my tank? Any help would be great since I will be moving in about 2 weeks...

 

[Ray]

From what I remember I think you should be fine up to a 125 gallon as far as weight but someone else with more knowlage should chime in

 

[jebar777]

as long as you have it on a supporting wall you will be fine. or an outside wall. if you can figure out if the downstairs has diffrent wall structire than upstairs you can put it on a support wall for the downstairs. but you should be fine.

 

[reefer125g]

If you have 4 people sitting at a table with a avg. weight of 250 lbs will the floor hold???

PS my 125 is on the 2nd floor.

 

[smcnally]

Some landlords will not allow a tank that size in an apartment above the first floor. I would check with them.

 

[dz6t]

I don't think a second floor of an old house is good for anything bigger than a 75 gallon. If you have a wood stand, you may be OK, but absolutily not with a metal stand (only 4 point contacts). It is a lot different than 4 big guys sitting on a dinner table.

Also, I have not met any landlord (may be you are lucky to find one) that allows big fish tank especially saltwater tank on a second floor and above.

I remeber something like no more than 20 gallon of freshwater, blah blah blah...

If the 125 gallon breaks and the saltwater will do great damage to the house. It then will depend on what kind of insurance you have with the landlord. He/she can drag you to court for that (seen one before).

After study the fish tank size vs house structures matters, I moved all saltwater tanks to the basement which directly sits on solid ground. All the floor under the tanks are ceramic tiles now after some flooding and headache. Also, I don't think home insurance cover flood from fish tank, so the landlord will go after you if that happens.

If I were you, I will setup a nano to cure this addition and I am sorry to get you into this hobby.

 

[nitrofish]

I live on a first floor, but there is no basement below me, just a crawl space. I had a 180 gal,a 125 gal,and a 90 gal all in my kitchen.

 

[stevenp]

Melana,
How do the floors look? Are they flat? Can you drop a shooter marble on the floor without it rolling 100mph to one corner of the room? I would first check to make sure that the structural integrity of the building has not been previously comprimised.

At least then you know that the building has not settled awkwardly and any heavy pieces of furniture etc have not had any effect on the floors over the past xxx years. If there hasn't been any previous damage you may be OK. I would be willing to bet that there were at least a couple previous tenants that put something in the apartment that they were'nt suppose to.

I'm assuming this is an old house...

I'm no structural engineer but that's my $.02

Steve

 

[denvig]

I would check it out first. And read this.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php

 

[dz6t]

I will worry about any protential flood more than weight issue.

Landlords don't want surprise, so ask first before move in a tank,

 

[nitrofish]

1000 lbs isn't really that heavy. heck the worlds largest man was something like 1,200lbs.

 

[dz6t]

1heck the worlds largest man was something like 1,200lbs.

I will like to see a link to that man. OMG, that is big.

 

[luumanfoo29]

how many lbs per gallon of water is it again?

 

[littlep93056]

I think salt water 8.25 lbs. per gallon

 

[denvig]

Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon or 62.4 pounds per cubic ft.
Read the article I posted above. That tank and sump would weigh more like 2500 lbs or more when done.

 

[jacqur]

The way I would look at it is this:

Floors are designed(and usually built) to a specification. I believe it's between 80 and 125 psf (Lbs. per square foot.). So If you figure a 110 tank filled with rock and sand and the weight of the tank and stand is ~ 1200 lbs. give or take. A 6' by 18" tank is 9 sq. ft. Thus about 125 psf.

There are 2 types of loads static and dynamic. dynamic loads are called "live loads'. The loads affect the structural integrirty differntly. Live loads cause the floor too fail immediately, but wooden floors have the ability too handle much higher live loads than the 125 psf they are rated for because the weight is distributed over a larger area due to the sub flooring. Also wood is somewhat flexible and will absorb some of the energy of a live load into deflection. Put simply 2 200lb men could stand on 1 sq ft and jump up and down without the floor failing. thus equivalent to at least 400 psf not conting the force of jumping.

However a large static load can slowly weaken the floor over time and then one day when a couple people gather around the tank, Big Surprise.

Bottom line - see if you can locate the new tank directly over a load bearing wall or on an outside wall where the floor joist below it are supported by the outside wall. This is much safer than in the middle of a room where the span from the nearest supporting wall might be 8' to 10'.

In my opinion, 110 gal on an outside wall or above a load bearing wall is no problem, I would be very comfortable going much larger in a well constructed building. If you need to put it on an interior wall where there is no support structure beneath it, then 110 is a bit more risky but not unreasonable in my opinion.

How about finding out some info on what the joist size is and the spacing? Dimensional lumber 2 x10 at 16" or for an older building perhaps true 2" x 8" or 2" x 10" at 16" or maybe 24". If you can find this out there are load tables available on the internet or from any licensed contractor with a MA construction supervisors license.

Good Luck.

 

[littlep93056]

I just looked at AGA technical info

a 120 gal. tank weighs 215 lbs empty & 1400 lbs full that doe not include the stand Now add sand & rock & all other equipment to get weight

Your looking at about 2000lbs

 

[dz6t]

Don't forget that Melana has a metal stand as far as I know. That means the weight will be very "focus" on several spots.

 

[denvig]

For what it’s worth, I am an Architect with over 35 years of experience. I have a 110 gal. tank and I put a beam under it. I would never recommend or say it’s OK to anyone that has no idea what the framing capacity of their floor is, especially someone that doesn’t even own the house. I have never seen a floor in a residence in my 35 years, designed to 125 lbs per sq. ft. loading or anything close. You have two choices IMO check it out and be sure or hope for the best. The latter can be a very big expensive mistake or worse.

 

[dz6t]

Second what Denvig said.