Estimated Filled Weights Of Common Aquarium Sizes

[Jeremy180]

I figure this probably belongs in the beginner section, as beginners are the most likely IMO to underestimate the weight of a filled Aquarium, I apologize if this reasoning is incorrect.
 
Edit: accidentally posted before completing, mod please delete
Edit: NVM, I'll just use this thread.

 

[RainboWBacoN420]

It would actually be really helpful to have it posted on here, just seems like it would belong on these forums.

 

[Chad]

This document is a good start: http/www.aqueonproducts.com/assets/011/19107.pdfI use it all the time. That's how I knew my tank was around 3000 pounds and I used it when judging what size to put upstairs. 

 

[Jeremy180]

LOL, yeah this is gonna take longer than expected.....

 

[Sweeden]

1Litre = 1Kg

 

[Blough]

1 gallon = about 8.34 pounds
that means a ten gallon is 83.4 pounds.
not including the tank itself

 

[Jeremy180]

1Litre = 1Kg

 

1 gallon = about 8.34 pounds
that means a ten gallon is 83.4 pounds.
not including the tank itself

Ah, yes, but You're forgetting the weight of the glass & substrate, both of which are denser/"heavier" than water. 

Edit: yeah, this will take a Long time, just finished calculating a 2.5 gallon, which comes to 14 kilos (31lb), More than I expected...
All filled aquarium weights will be calculated with 4 inches of quartz sand substrate....

 

[Chad]

 
 

That's why I like the PDF, it has empty and full weights listed. 

 

[Jeremy180]

 

 

 

That's why I like the PDF, it has empty and full weights listed. 
 


Yes, that was a very helpful resource, Thank you. it should allow me to skip some calculations, at least until I get to the really big sizes.....

 

[Chad]

It only goes up to 210 gallons so beyond that you are just guessing unless you can know the glass weight. This is also glass tanks, not acrylic. 

 

[Jeremy180]

Beyond 210 gallons I'll have to use glass thickness and specific gravity.
Yay, another calculation.

 
I'm thinking that I'll be leaving out the acrylic tanks from the calculations, I figure people can just use the glass tanks for thier calculations.
3-300 pounds worth of overkill doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me

 

[Blough]

 

1Litre = 1Kg

 

1 gallon = about 8.34 pounds
that means a ten gallon is 83.4 pounds.
not including the tank itself

Ah, yes, but You're forgetting the weight of the glass & substrate, both of which are denser/"heavier" than water. 

Edit: yeah, this will take a Long time, just finished calculating a 2.5 gallon, which comes to 14 kilos (31lb), More than I expected...
All filled aquarium weights will be calculated with 4 inches of quartz sand substrate....

 

I'm not forgetting anything. I'm purposefully leaving it out. "not including the tank itself."
 

 

[Chad]

It would actually be really helpful to have it posted on here, just seems like it would belong on these forums.

As you can see above there's a reason we don't have a ready guide. It's not as easy as it seems. We hardly touched on water displacement. The weight of the water displaced can sometimes be more or less than the weight of what is displacing it since it's volume that does the displacing. 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Do not forget there will also be extra weight when you factor in substrate (as mentioned earlier), heater/s, filter, decor, plants and yes, the fishe's / stocking.
 
So when it comes to calculating total weight for checking if your stand or flooring will withstand these heavy weights, do be sure not to miss these out.
 
This would be a most useful guide for checking this sort of thing but of course there are various things to take into account but I do wish the very best of luck in getting something sorted

 

[Jeremy180]

 

It would actually be really helpful to have it posted on here, just seems like it would belong on these forums.

As you can see above there's a reason we don't have a ready guide.

It's not as easy as it seems. We hardly touched on water displacement. The weight of the water displaced can sometimes be more or less than the weight of what is displacing it since it's volume that does the displacing. 
 

About that...
One reason for the extended delay is I was using an online calculator that adds in the weight of glass+substrate, but the numbers were looking odd, so I double-checked and it turned out that this calculator was ignoring displacement when adding the substrate, thus counting water that was no longer in the tank toward the final total.
So, i'm having to manually do that, as well as re-do all my progress at the time of the discovery, about 2 dozen tanks...

Oh, shoot! I just realized that I haven't been accounting for nominal vs actual Water volume!

  
LOL, it's a good thing I have a stubborn personality.
 
Well, since I'll be starting over Again anyway, while I'm at it, I'll figure substrate as a percentage of the tank's overall height, rater than a set level.
Four inches of substrate in a seven inch high tank just seems silly, while on the other end of the spectrum, it doesn't sound like quite enough for a 210....
 
So, what sounds like a reasonable level to figure for, erring on the side of people that might want an extra-thick layer of substrate?
I'm thinking maybe 20% of the tank's overall height?