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KyleJ

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Might be buying a 3ft tank but it will have to upstairs in my house, how heavy will a 3ft tank weigh? I believe its around 50g UK, please help cause im trying to convince someone thats concerned about how much it will weigh.

Cheers
Kyle
 
Oh ho ho!! The joy's of putting tanks upstairs.. I spent about 3 months freaking out over this when I decided to buy a bigger tank. It depends on how much water'll be in the tank really so like jayjay says you need the other dimensions.. However, I have a 3ft tank that holds just over 130 litres upstairs in a victorian house where the floor shakes if you slam a door and it's fine! *touches wood*

You hear stories of those people who get so hugely large that they are stuck upstairs in bed... Plus the bed weight, wardrobes, tv etc.. so the floors in most houses must be able to hold a fair bit of weight? :good:
 
Read this post it may help:
7 foot tank weight
As jayjay says it depends on your other dimensions. :nod:

Work out your tank volume in cubic meters. Say if its 3 foot long by 2 foot wide by 2 foot high, thats around 1.2m long x 0.6m wide x 0.6m high = 0.432 m3

1 m3 of water weighs 1000 kg

Therefore that tank water would weigh 0.432 x 1000 = 432 kg (plus add a little for the glass weight and stand/cupboard under).

hope this helps? :)
 
This is one of the best articles.

Quoted from that article:

And now for the most commonly perpetuated myth of all. Someone in the forum asks if they think it is possible to place a 120 gallon tank on the second floor of their apartment. The answers inevitably go something like this: "I see no reason you can't. I've had a 125 gallon aquarium in my bedroom for years."

Myth #17: "If my floor didn't collapse with a ??? gallon aquarium, then your floor should be okay too"

Since the person posting the question provides no information at all about the composition of the floor construction, the span of the floor framing or the relative position of the tank, there is just no way for anyone to provide a logical answer. Yet answers flow from people perfectly willing to compare apples to oranges to watermellons to come up with a recomendation. (And in this example the comparison is even a worse because the 125 gallon tank is 6 ft long and the 120 gallon tank is only 4 ft long.)

If you know why the answer given in myth #17 is so illogical, then you understand why I decided to sit down and write this all out.
Click to expand...

Ps: didn't see our resident structural engineer already helped out above ! Great advice as always Fillet 'O' Fish ! :good:
 
Fillet said:
Read this post it may help:
7 foot tank weight
As jayjay says it depends on your other dimensions. :nod:

Work out your tank volume in cubic meters. Say if its 3 foot long by 2 foot wide by 2 foot high, thats around 1.2m long x 0.6m wide x 0.6m high = 0.432 m3

1 m3 of water weighs 1000 kg

Therefore that tank water would weigh 0.432 x 1000 = 432 kg (plus add a little for the glass weight and stand/cupboard under).

hope this helps? :)
Click to expand...


432Kg?? thats almost half a tonne in weight - i think your calcualtion is out.

I have the Jewel Vision tank, which is virtually 3ft long, has a capacity of 180 lites, and there fore weighs when full excluding grvel 180 Kg - 1cm3 of water = 1gram, 1 litre = one Kg.

If your tank is 50 UK gall. it is slightly bigger than mine, should weigh around 220Kg.

My tank is upstairs, and i have no problem, but its next to a supporting wall - i dont think i would like to chance it in the middle of the room. However, if your upstairs room has a concrete based floor (some do) then there would be no problem
 
This is why I love ( some ) US measurements. 1G = 8lbs. Plain simple, easy to use. Oh sure you are still figuring in whatever is in the tank besides water, but you are doing that either way, UK or US.

To further the discussion on floor structure....

A previous post mentions a 4 ft tank vs a 3ft tank. Well now I don't know anything about UK building codes, but here in the US ( someone correct me if I'm wrong ) floor joists must be no further than 16in apart. there fore it would be possible for a 4ft to span 3 joists, greatly increasing the load handling properities of the total span. no matter what you do with a 3ft tank 2 joists are all you can hope for, or 50% of your total weight on each.

In the example of a 4ft vs a 6ft tank, here again we increase tha load capacity while also evening out the (nearly) same load.

Or as plainly put here....
Selection of floor joists depends on several factors including wood species, lumber grade, floor covering, and room designation. The 2003 International Residential Code (IRC) differentiates between rooms designated as sleeping areas (30 psf live load) and living areas (40 psf live load). Moreover, where heavy floor coverings are used including ceramic tile or slate maximum allowable spans are reduced to account for the additional weight. For living areas with carpet covering, SPF #2 2x8 joists spaced at 16 inches can only span 12 feet and three inches. SPF #2 2x12 or Southern Pine #2 2x10 spaced at 16 inches should be specified for a 16-foot floor span for the given conditions. Tables R502.3.1(1) and R502.3.1(2) of the 2003 IRC provide information for various floor joist options. :hyper: :fun: :blink:
 
CytheFish said:
This is why I love ( some ) US measurements. 1G = 8lbs. Plain simple, easy to use. Oh sure you are still figuring in whatever is in the tank besides water, but you are doing that either way, UK or US.

To further the discussion on floor structure....

A previous post mentions a 4 ft tank vs a 3ft tank. Well now I don't know anything about UK building codes, but here in the US ( someone correct me if I'm wrong ) floor joists must be no further than 16in apart. there fore it would be possible for a 4ft to span 3 joists, greatly increasing the load handling properities of the total span. no matter what you do with a 3ft tank 2 joists are all you can hope for, or 50% of your total weight on each.

In the example of a 4ft vs a 6ft tank, here again we increase tha load capacity while also evening out the (nearly) same load.

Or as plainly put here....
Selection of floor joists depends on several factors including wood species, lumber grade, floor covering, and room designation. The 2003 International Residential Code (IRC) differentiates between rooms designated as sleeping areas (30 psf live load) and living areas (40 psf live load). Moreover, where heavy floor coverings are used including ceramic tile or slate maximum allowable spans are reduced to account for the additional weight. For living areas with carpet covering, SPF #2 2x8 joists spaced at 16 inches can only span 12 feet and three inches. SPF #2 2x12 or Southern Pine #2 2x10 spaced at 16 inches should be specified for a 16-foot floor span for the given conditions. Tables R502.3.1(1) and R502.3.1(2) of the 2003 IRC provide information for various floor joist options. :hyper: :fun: :blink:
Click to expand...


perhaps an analogy for those of us not quite in tune with those building standards would be something like this:

if you wear pointy high heels in grass, you will sink.
if you wear flat shoes, the weight is distributed more evenly, so you won't sink.

same concept, i think? :blink: my fellow women here know what i'm talking about. haha.
 
Further to the high heeled shoes anaolgy.

The stand has some impact here and forgive me if the previous posts covered it. The way the stand contacts the floor will also make a difference. I have a 70g US tank on a long coffee table type stand where the entire legnth of the stand rests on the floor. I just bought two 70 gal tanks that sit in a two tier metal stand which contacts the floor with only four small feet. The feet are much more likely to penetrate the floor. which could cause damage and possibly cause a regretable accident. I plan to use a piece of 3/4 inch plywood under the tank to protect the floor and spread the weight.

Lastly good luck.
 
I was told that a tank would weigh(in pounds) about the same if you added a 0 to the end of the Gallons... this just gives a rough estimate
but still a handy thing to know if it works well all the time....

thus a 50 gallon tank... About 500 pounds?
 
I have a 70g tank in my loft conversion. Evey thing included I have about 500kg over a few joists. No proplems so far :)
 
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