Aquarium Weight

[Thomas McMillan]

Hi all,

I am looking at getting back into the fishkeeping scene after a few years and looking at getting a 60l tank, although I would much prefer a 90l. The thing is, I live in a 2nd floor flat and am reluctant to buy an aquarium of this weight (will be around 100kg+ when set up).

I'm just wondering if anyone could confirm that this isn't a good idea, or if anyone has any thoughts/advice/experiences to suggest it would be fine? Any comments welcome and appreciated - thanks in advance.

 

[KrystaK]

If it were a larger tank I would be more concerned but 60 lt is about 15 US Gal. Unless you live in a house made of kindling you should be fine.

The amount of mass a specific area can hold depends on several factors, if you can make an educated guess on mass of your aquarium; stand, tank, substrate, decorations and water, then you can for lack of a better term 'eyeball' if you think your floor can hold it.
My 115 lt tank can be measured as; 20 lb stand, 50 lb tank (Including hood ect..), 30 lb substrate, 3-10 lb of Decorations i.e: plants and such, and 36in x 12in x 18in of water, assuming 1 gal of water weights about 8.5 lbs, and 115 Lt converts to about 30 US gal than 8.5 x 30 is about 255, for a total weight of 360 lbs.

In my opinion you'rs would be something like the following; 20 lb Stand, 20-25 lb tank, 15-20 lb substrate, 3-5 lb decorations (Assuming your not adding decorative rocks), and 15 US gal x 8.5 = 170 lb of water. So your total weight is about: About 220 lbs of mass on your floor

I had my fish tank in a part of my house that was over the basement, which has unfinished ceiling, and one can see the floor workings and such. My house was built in the 20's. It was first a hunting lodge for trappers, and then a cottage for my family, and it eventually got added onto and became a year round home in about the 80's.
Anyways, the basement was dug in the 20's, and the flooring above it was never replaced or fixed and it had no problem with my 350 lb tank. If yours is smaller than mine it should be fine.

If you're that worried it's simple to just phone up a contractor and ask, but I mean think about it, how much does your fridge weigh when it's full of food? (Assuming it's a full size fridge)

In my opinion you're fine

EDIT: Seeing you've already got the weight (And when I converted 220 lbs to KG it was 98.xxx) I still think you'll be alright

 

[Thomas McMillan]

Thanks for your advice. So the general consensus is that a 90l tank weighing around 100kg+ would be okay?

 

[garyspence84]

I lived in a 3rd floor flat, made out of council wood and bricks and had 2x 4foot 250ltr tanks, a corner 200ltr tank and a 3foot 180ltr tank and survived to tell the tale

I think you'll be fine.

 

[DrRob]

Yeah, it'll be fine unless there are structural problems. If the floor can't stand 100kg then I wouldn't be able to carry my daughter into your flat safely. Personally I'd have no concerns with the 90l.

 

[Liz xty]

Think about how much you weigh + perhaps a child sat with you on a chair? - that won't break your joists / floorboards (I hope!!)
My new tank will convert to 5 average men cuddling in the corner! As this room is above the garage, if it collapses then hubby's sports car gets it - he's quite confident that it'll be ok / If not, then its his fault that he's done his calculations wrong!

 

[CrystalClear16]

Hmmm... So we have a 240l Jewel and are looking at moving into an apartment on the 2nd floor (or 3rd floor if your American!) of a converted house. Would this be ok?

Edit: the shipping weight (i.e. empty tank and cabinet) is 85kg and using an online calculator, the whole lot would weight about 368kg. Any structural engineers here?!

 

[Liz xty]

On my working out - 4 men cosying together on a 4'(?) cabinet! Add a bit of vibration from the filter and is that the equivalent of one of the men dancing???
We've now set up the juwel trigon 350 (5 men in the corner!) and I think it seems quite sound - it will be spanning at least 3 joists I reckon and our house is just 20 years old, so I think the building regs of 20 year ago were fairly good. I'm optimistic that the car below will be ok!
Not sure which thread I read it - but I'll echo - that you need to ensure the cabinet spreads the weight evenly across several joists which run at right angles to the floorboards,