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ok, so for someone who sucks at maths, what you said simplified is:

if the stand has a completly flat base it would probably be ok? as the weight per square inch isn't too high? of am i trying to over simplyfy things.

if the stand had feet of somesort, could i take them off to even out the weight distribution?

sorry, i probably sound a bit thick, but i've never had to think about this sort of thing before

The landlord had actually said she would get the floorplans and help us work out if it would be ok, and we were arranging a hire van so we could go down there at a time that suited him.

I don't think i could actually bring myself to destroy such a big tank, surely he could have got someone to keep it for a couple of days more and we could have picked it up

:#( oh well such is life, maybe next time

*GASP*!!!!!!!!!!!!


Very mean things need to be done to people like that!

I mean REALLY to destroy something such as that is just very wrong!.
Especially after you were trying to get it @least

*grumble*

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I’m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."

Well,

At least we had a chance to discuss the feasibility of such a large tank.

BTW – did you ever find out if you would have needed permission from the house owner?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I don't believe it!! He threw it away!!! we finally got through to him and he said it was too much hassle trying to arrange a pick up so he smashed the tank and dumped it in a skip :#(

Not Fair!!!

Not even sure I'll be getting it now. The guy still hasn't called back after 3 voicemail messages left. Glad i haven't paid already.

I think if i do get it, i will pay a visit to B&Q and get a 6X2 sheet of mdf and put the whole stand on top of that to spread out the weight, think it should be ok then.

If anyone thinks i am being hasty and opening myself up to crushing my downstairs neighbour, please let me know.

I've been having so many ideas of what i want to put in the tank if i get it, there's so many things i want, but many aren't compatible with each other...................

wonder if i can find another 224g on ebay............

Remember, even if you don't fill it to the top, you should still have more than enough room to keep a number of fish.

Of course getting a solid 6" under a tank stand is easier said than done

Plus, you will need a ladder to feed your fishies (tank + stand + 6" )

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

True you'd have to take that calculation to however much surface area is covered by the feet of the stand....I got myself confused as that's how I calculated the weight impact caused by sticking a stock tank in my living room as a pond...the stock tank had a solid footprint.

I did speak with an engineer who was working with us @the time when I was putting in the pond about using a base. He said that 6" or taller would be enough of a base to distribute the weight of a tank. Of course getting a solid 6" under a tank stand is easier said than done ...especially with apartments >.<

^_^[hr width='40%']"Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the [link=pain]http://babelfish.qwertydigital.com/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] you feel.
The life, the love, You die to heal.
The hope that starts, The broken hearts...
I’ve got another confession my friend, I’m no fool.
I’m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."

Well, assuming that my math is correct (which is not necessarily the case):

The chances for you would be the best if the surface that touches the ground is the highest. In an optimum, the base of the stand is a solid plate measuring 6 x 2 to distribute the weight most evenly downwards. It would never be completely even (given that the plate/base would be wood) but better than only with a narrow frame.

Again, this all is only valid it I did the right math.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I was on ebay recently and found a rather large tank set-up being sold very cheaply. My girlfriend and I decided to place a few bids and ended up winning. The only thing is, we didn't check the dimensions too well before buying it. We had guessed at around 400 litres. After winning the auction i sat down and ran the figures and it turned out we had just bought a 849 litre (224 gallon) tank. Fantastic we thought, until i thought about the fact that we live on the second floor of our building and have no idea if the floor can take that sort of weight. How can I find out? don't think i can get hold of the floor plans. it's a rented flat and don't know how happy the landlord would be about a tank of that size in here

any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

kieran,

Well Babel just might be a little off. I decided to make my own attempt in calculating the pressure.

All, feel free to rant if I am wrong.

First off, the formula should read weight / surface area
Means 2500lbs / ( 6 * 12 * 2 * 12) and that would actually equal your result of 1.4468 – per square inch. This means that on any inch of the floor there will be a pressure of 1.4468 lbs/inches^2. And so would be the pressure of the square right next to it and so forth for the entire size of the stand.

The number that Babel got is the value for 10 inches square with about 145lbs.

In addition, this calculation would be only valid if the tank stand is solid and touches the ground in the entire rectangle ( 6*2 ). Usually, that is not the case. If the stand is actually just a frame, the pressure goes way up.

For example: Let’s assume that the stand is made of solid 2 by 4 with the 4 being on the ground. In this case, we have a surface of 72” times 4” times 2 (back and front) plus 16” ( = 24 – 4 on each end) times 4” times 2 (left and right). That should give us a sum of 704 inches^2. Now, 2500 lbs / 704 inches^2 is 3.55 lbs/inches^2, or (to compare with the value above) 355lbs / 10 inches square.

Let’s even go further and assume that the stand touches the ground only with a 1 inch wide frame. Then we would have this 2500 / ( 72 * 1 * 2 + 22 * 1 * 2 ) = 13.3 lbs/inches^2, or 1330 lbs / 10 inches square. Now that is a nice value. That is the equivalent of a 160G (8.33 lbs is aprox. 1G) tank on 10 inches square, if all pressure is given off to the floor at the whole surface area.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So it should be ok?? Cool! i was actually losing hope.

But it may all be academic now anyway, turns out the reason he was selling it is because he is moving to hong kong ON FRIDAY! so it has to be picked up by then, but it can't be tonight because he has work, and my only method of transport big enough for it (a horse box we're going to borrow from my girlfriends mum) won't be available 2morrow. and i have to work

Last edited by kieran at 24-Aug-2005 11:12

Well if I've remembered my math is correct (and I should state that I'm not the best in math )
(6X12)* (2X12)/2500=144.68

So if you can safely place 144.68lbs in any one spot on the floor you should be safe enough.

If you cant place 144lbs in any one spot remind me not to come to any of your parties .

^_^[hr width='40%']"Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the pain you feel.
The life, the love, You die to heal.
The hope that starts, The broken hearts...
I’ve got another confession my friend, I’m no fool.
I’m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."

Edit to fix random smiley that decided to invade my math equation ....not that I have anything against smilies, they're my smiley after all just that I figure it's difficult to understand an equation written with smilies .

Last edited by Babelfish at 24-Aug-2005 09:50

The building is around one and a half years old, but unfortunatly the floors are wooden. The location i had in mind is along two external walls where i already have a 45 gallon and a 17 gallon that i would be moving elsewhere.

From what i can see in the picture
picture of the tank
the stand is the same size as the tank which is 6 X 2X 2.5 feet (i did do the figures right didn't i?)



Last edited by kieran at 24-Aug-2005 04:22

Hi there, first congratulationsDo you have any idea where you want to put it? Any idea how you are going to get it upstairs

That said, I'm just going to be lazy and link you to another thread with a similar question, that is also linkedYes, those tanks are uh smaller but the idea is the same

Best of luck, heidi

[link=other thread with a smaller tank, similar question]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Getting%20Started/62983.html" style="COLOR: #FF1493[/link]

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

I guess it would depend on the footprint of the tank as well, the bigger the better for your weight distribution.

In addition, what kind of building and floor is it anyway? Concrete or wood or what? If it is concrete I would assume you could be fine.

In addition to the addition, I have heard of cases where a tank of this size required the explicit approval of the owner of the building.

Otherwise, congratulations on the successful bigging

No really, I hope it works out because it seems to be awesome.

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 23-Aug-2005 19:17

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

224 gallons, I'm jealous!

One thing to consider is the construction of the stand. If the stand is larger than the tank it's obviously going to help further distribute the weight of the water. I'd calculate the weight at a conservative 2,500 pounds (water is 8lbs per gallon but in the fish world we call it 10 to take into account substrate ect) which you would then divide by the footprint of the tank to get how much weight any one area of the floor would be supporting.
If you have numbers to take to your landlord it'd be better than just asking if you can put a 224 gallon tank in their place. Here in the states many places won't let you have more than 55 gallons. Considering that a stacked washer and dryer weigh close to 500lbs and has all that weight sitting on 4 little feet it just doesn't make sense sometimes.

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That approx. 1800 pounds with only water this doesnt include rock or the actual weight of the tank, which could be 300 to 400 pounds. I dont know if your floor can hold this weight but. that just some weights to throw out.

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