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I just moved into an apartment and I discovered that there is a crawl space underneath the apartment for drainage (at least I am assuming it is for drainage). My question is what would be the maximum weight I could put onto the floor without it caving in. I was really looking forward to getting a 55 or 75 gallon aquarium once I moved in here but I didn't realize when I was checking out the apartment that it was hollow underneath. I weigh about 185-190 so I know the floors will support at least that much weight without problems but I am wondering what the most they would support would be. I guess I am probably going to have to go to the renter's office and ask them but I thought I would post here in case anyone else is in a similar situation. Let me know what you think Thanks in advance for any replies.

Even with just a crawlspace underneath the floor, it still needs support beams. A floor can take a lot of weight, in terms of people, but lots of stationary water becomes a different story. If you can find where the support beams are, plan to put your aquarium there. A 55 gal. tank filled with water and gravel, will probably weigh in the neighborhood of 500lbs. A 75 gal will weigh over 600lbs, and that's not even taking into account the stand. If you put the tank against an outer wall over at least one set of support beams, you should be okay. The trick will be finding those support beams under the floor.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Ok. Maybe I can get blueprints or something because I have no idea how to locate the support beams. Thanks for the help.

The floor will easily support an aquarium. Please realize that you are distributing your weight over a single square foot. An aquarium will spread its weight over 6, 8 or 12 square feet.

Essentially, you are exerting 190 pounds in a single suare foot or 95 pounds over two square feet if you spread your feet. A 55 gallon will spread the weight over 4 square feet or about 125 pounds per square foot. A 75 gallon will spread the weight over 6 square feet while a 125 will spead weight over 9 square feet.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Wow, I didn't look at it that way. That makes a lot of sense . Woohoo! 55 or 75 here I come (well, I am broke now but anyways). Thanks.

I have a 75 g in my apartment

I have no idea how to locate the support beams.

I recently moved to a place with wooden floors and wanted to put the tank on the beams/supports. I used a 'stud finder' to do it. A little rectangular contraption that is hand held. It emits a beep when there is a beam under the floor. It is very cool.

They are not very expensive approx $20 Australian. If you buy one you may get more use out of it in the future than you think.

Or you may be lucky enough to borrow one. Lots of home fix it type peeps will have one in the garage that they bought for a particular project. They will be thrilled that it can get some additonal use, I am sure.

It is good peace of mind to know the tank is on the beams and even I can use the stud finder. It was fun... beep beep beep there goes a hottie now. Yooo hooo, 'scuse me....hello!.

Last edited by wish-ga at 01-Nov-2005 20:09

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Water is 10lbs per gallon, plus tank weight.. A floor can take more weight then we think.. Also if your stand has narrow legs, can put squares of wood under it to further spread the weight.

You can tap a hammer along the floor and tell where there is a stud or not... Hollow sound, no stud, solid thunk, stud... Of course if your floorboards are loose this may not work so well... Works for walls too

The Amazon Nut...

Thanks for the help guys & gals . I will probably just do the hammer thing to find the beams. I talked to the owner of a LFS and he said I should be able to do a 55 or 75 no problem as the weight will be spread out just like it was already said.

I second what DaFishMan said about using wooden planks. I used to have a 120 gallon and I always had two long planks of hardwood under the legs to distribute the weight more evenly. Also, try to place the tank so that it is running perpendicular across the floor joists rather than parallel to them - spreads the weight across more joists (they are usually about 1.5-2' apart, so you should be able to get the tank across two or three of them). I was able to do this in most of my homes with my 120 gallon (all of which were on a second floor) and never had any problems - the only time I did have a problem was when I had to put the tank parallel to the joists and against a wall that wasn't load-bearing. The floor started to bow a little and although I'm not sure whether it would have actually broken, I couldn't stand the worry and ended up selling the tank and buying an 80 gallon divider tank instead that could go in a different position across the joists. At any rate, a 120 gallon is a lot different from a 55 or even 75. I wouldn't worry at all about tanks that size.

Last edited by just beginning at 02-Nov-2005 20:24

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

As it is an apartment, you will want to check with your renters office/landlord (or it may be in your lease agreement) as to the maximum aquarium size allowed in your building. There may need to be permission given before you can even have an aquarium- it's best to be sure!! Some places have no size restrictions, but require you to take out some (or extra) apartment insurance if you plan on keeping tanks in your unit.

L.

Last edited by littlecatjoe at 03-Nov-2005 09:01

Thanks again . Glad to know I can safely keep a 55G or 75G. I will check with the renter's office and talk to them when I get ready to do the 55G or 75G.

I have a 75 on the second floor in my house and its been there for months.