Hello

[PJay]

Firstly - Hello everyone, I'm Pjay and live at Royal Quays, North Tyneside, UK. I kept a Communal Tank as a kid, Many years ago and after a recent visit to a Garden Centre, with an Aquarium Section, I realised how much I loved that old tank. My concern in re-starting this hobby is that I now live on the third floor of an Apartment Building and my nightmare (however unlikely - it may b deemed), Is a leak or breakage to said Aquarium, which would be catastrophic to those whom live below me on the lower two floors.

Any comments, guidance, advice and sage words would be truly welcome. I have thought about a couple of 5 Gallon Fluval Edge Tanks - they are beautiful and would limit any potential damage to a much lower volume 'flood' But when you see the BIG TANKS - WOW you just fall in love with the possibilities.

So that's an outline of my dilemma, and my questions below are four-fold:

(a) Is it viable to keep an Aquarium on the Third Floor of an Apartment Building (Floors are Wooden on Wooden Beams)
(b) Is there a limit to the Size/Capacity I should keep to in light of the weight issues of said Aquarium.
(c) Would I need to consider strengthening said floor.
(d) Is there an insurance company/policy that covers Aquarium keeping (assuming my basic contents Insurance would not cover such)

Thanks so much...

 

[Piti]

Assuming your apartment wasn’t built by The Sims you should be okay. Keep in mind, your apartment has a fridge in it, and if you load up that fridge with water bottles, your apartment should still be able to withstand the load, but if it falls threw it won’t be your fault. If it falls there needs to be enough water damage, mold/whatever eats away, softens, and destroys wood or a pre existing flaw for that to happen, but it won’t happen. Where I am from, the apartments can have more then 5 people in a room

A) If you have the room and time, yes it is very viable. Those wooden boards keep most of the world above ground level and they will be designed the same if you’re in the highest class hotel, or anything that isn’t a project.

B) Its a room issue. If you want to look at it on a math perspective, assume 1 us gallon = 8.35lbs. .. Okay, with that math an average male = the weight of a 20 gallon tank. 20/the surface area of your two feet vs 20/Surface area of bottom of fish tank. And the bigger the tank you get, the more surface area you will have, so the load will be distributed the same, give or take. So there really is no worry there. If you are still worried, find a stud finder for your floor and get it across as many beams as possible... but really... don’t lol.

D) Your apartment might have a policy against pets... or aquariums, so you might want to bring that up first (but ask for the official papers because the answer at the top of the guy's head may be a made up one, just like half of my math.

And if your aquarium just so happens to break or something... Just clean it up, dry it off as fast as you can, and nothing bad will happen, minus loss of fish

Sorry for the long thing, I just thought it would be fun to do some typing before I went to bed. In conclusion, buildings are made to stand.

 

[Carlovel1]

 

[PJay]

Assuming your apartment wasn’t built by The Sims you should be okay. Keep in mind, your apartment has a fridge in it, and if you load up that fridge with water bottles, your apartment should still be able to withstand the load, but if it falls threw it won’t be your fault. If it falls there needs to be enough water damage, mold/whatever eats away, softens, and destroys wood or a pre existing flaw for that to happen, but it won’t happen. Where I am from, the apartments can have more then 5 people in a room

A) If you have the room and time, yes it is very viable. Those wooden boards keep most of the world above ground level and they will be designed the same if you’re in the highest class hotel, or anything that isn’t a project.

B) Its a room issue. If you want to look at it on a math perspective, assume 1 us gallon = 8.35lbs. .. Okay, with that math an average male = the weight of a 20 gallon tank. 20/the surface area of your two feet vs 20/Surface area of bottom of fish tank. And the bigger the tank you get, the more surface area you will have, so the load will be distributed the same, give or take. So there really is no worry there. If you are still worried, find a stud finder for your floor and get it across as many beams as possible... but really... don’t lol.

D) Your apartment might have a policy against pets... or aquariums, so you might want to bring that up first (but ask for the official papers because the answer at the top of the guy's head may be a made up one, just like half of my math.

And if your aquarium just so happens to break or something... Just clean it up, dry it off as fast as you can, and nothing bad will happen, minus loss of fish

Sorry for the long thing, I just thought it would be fun to do some typing before I went to bed. In conclusion, buildings are made to stand.

Piti, Thanks so much for your post.

Carlovel1, Thank you. seems like a very helpful forum - which is great.

 

[Aqua Tom]

If you want a big tank, stick it on a big bit of plywood to spread the load.

 

[PJay]

Thanks Aqua Tom - appreciate your advice!