Will My Floor (Not Concrete) Take A Bigger Tank?

[kaivalagi]

Hi All,

I am going through the planning stages for a new tank to replace my rather small 33G tank, the size of the tank will most likely be 54"H x 18"D x 22"H, which equates to 93 US Gallons or 350 Litres.

I am not sure how much pool filter sand I will need yet but assuming it's around 50KG, that would mean the total tank weight would be in excess of 400KG after rocks are added.

Now, here comes the tricky bit, I live in a first floor flat with wooden joists and floorboards (not concrete), do you think a tank of this size would be fine on such a floor? I personally "think" it would work out fine based on the load being spread out in a larger area than currently, thus making it the same sort of deal as now, but I wanted to check with members here to be certain...The tank will go into the corner of the room, in theory that's the strongest part of the floor right? Any of you have a similarly sized tank setup on a floor like mine?

The tank and cabinet will most likely be custom made (Seabray) so I can make sure the bottom of the cabinet is flat and has no "feet", spreading the load well.

So, what do you guys think? Do-able or not?

Thanks in advance

 

[llamalord305]

None of us can really decide if it is safe or not. Even if someone has something similar to what you say, that shouldnt be a precedent. Check out this article.
http/www.african-cichlid.com/Structure.htm

 

[kaivalagi]

None of us can really decide if it is safe or not. Even if someone has something similar to what you say, that shouldnt be a precedent. Check out this article.
http/www.african-c...m/Structure.htm

Thanks very much for the link, reading it now

 

[kaivalagi]

I think I will be fine as the tank will go into a corner which joins an outside wall and a bearing wall. The other side of the bearing wall is where the bath in the bathroom exists and the floor there is concrete. The cabinet will also be flat bottomed with no feet. Just to be a bit more comfortable with it all though I may well reduce the height of my custom tank, making the capacity lower but not affecting the surface area...54"L x 18"D x 18"H = 76 US Gallons = 287 litres

One more question, I am assuming that the surface area of a tank with mid/low water level based Cichlids is far more important than the height, so reducing the height wouldn't be too much of an issue with stocking levels? i.e. I could treat a 76g tank with these dimensions more like a standard proportioned 90g for the purpose of stocking capacity?