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We are on the top (3rd) floor of an apartment building with wood floors...in deciding between a 90 and 125g the spouse is concerned about weight of the tanks, especially the larger.

Has anyone kept a tank this size in an apartment or on a second or higher floor? Any problems?

Thanks.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Weight is always a consideration if not for the floor then for carrying the darn thing up three flights of stairs. Water weight for a 125G is 1,200 pounds plus 200 pounds of gravel plus 200 pounds for the tank and stand. So you have 1,600 pounds that will be spread over 12 square feet or 133 pounds per square foot. I don't think it will be a problem... Ummm, how much does he weigh?

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

You also could try to find one of the weight bearing walls (some walls are superficial, some are load bearing carrying weight to the foundation). In any house built recently your tank should be perfectly fine set near the load bearing wall, as long as your tank stand doesnt just use 4 "legs" which might cause point loads, but I don't think they make stands like that for big tanks for that reason.

and as Bob said, would he worry about 10 grown men standing in a similar area?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Those 10 men though wouldn't be standing there for years. Another point to make is that when you have company over and have 6-7 people looking into the aquarium and nothing happens. Is it safe to have 150,180,200 then?

Definitely near a load bearing wall. If unsure put it beside an outside wall and not parallel, but perpendicular to floor joists.

Last edited by openwater at 18-Jan-2005 23:06

Last edited by openwater at 18-Jan-2005 23:09

i tried the whole ten big guys in the space idea and it worked. but even entire buildings have calapsed after only 5 years.

right now i have two 100+usg tanks 8 feet from each other and my house 80 years old and has wood support beams. plus im on the second floor.(i pray every night)

if u dont feel comfortable then dont do it but it will look nice

goodluk

Should be ok on a load bearing wall, along with which way the floor joists are going. Alot depends on joists direction and building codes! How long ago was this apartment built? Ask the landlord about what exactly is the load bearing, like a PSI load.

Well I found out the complex was built in 1967-68. Spouse mentioned waterbeds this morning so we checked the lease and they're not allowed. The tank would be on a load bearing wall with joists running perpindicular...I don't know, we're both kind of nervous about it and I think I may end up getting a 75g instead.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Your best bet is to ask the landlord. You might not even be allowed to have a tank 75 gallons up there, or they may make you get renter's insurance. I used to live in a townhouse and my landlord seemed a little upset when she found out I had gotten a 75 gallon, and it was on the ground floor. Her main concern was the tank leaking tough and she said she'd prefer me to get renter's insurance.

Besides the whole tank issue, renters or tennat insurance is definitely a must. Just make sure it does cover aquariums. Far to often people just insurance and they don't read over the whole policy.

We're always had standard renter's insurance but after moving here the spouse added a rider for the aquariums. Not a big expense to cover 'just-in-case'

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

The 'safe' load bearing capacity of a standard 1x10 piece of lumber which many homes are framed with (old ones anyway) is about 75psf (pounds per square foot). Meaning a 6 foot tank 18 inches wide running parrelel to the floor joists would sit on 12 feet of floor joist (assuming they are 16 inches apart and you make sure you hit them both) which could hold about 75lbs 8 12 feet or 900 pounds.

Now here are some considerations.....

- if you live on the third floor, chances are the floor joists are NOT 2x10.... they mor elikely 2x8 or 2x6. this is not good.

- if the house is relatively new, even if you have 2x10's they are not really 2x10s. you see modern lumber measurements are not percise. Your 2x10 is like 1-3/4 by 9-1/2 (or thereabout the exact measurements elude me at the moment.) This is also not good.

- if you run the tank perpendicularly you are going to hit more floor joists, but you are putting more of a load on a smaller section of the joist that way.

- If you can put it close to a load bearing wall - this would be very good! Look at your roof. if it looks like this /\ fromt he front then your load bearing walls are to the right and left (as opposed to front and back) if the roof peaks the other way (you see roof front and back with the peak running horizontally) then the front and back walls are load bearing. If the roof resembles a pyramid (like mine ) all of your walls are load bearing. The joists will be much stronger near these walls as they have much more support.

- keep in mind that 75lbs per linear foor of 'safe'load bearing capcity is NOT the maximum weight it can supoort - it is what they consider safe. This can (and often is) exceeded, but it wonlt look good when the isurance adjuster comes to the house and asks why your fish tank is laying in the basement.

I suggest having an engineer or a skilled builder look at the home and it's specifications before dropping 1600 pounds on it.

the poster with the 80 year old house actually has less to worry about. His house is probably using 2x10 framing even on the second floor and they are very likely REAL 2x10s as opposed to the modern equivalents which as I said are smaller.

The 10 guys standing int he corner argument is bogus. They do not stand there 24/7 365. The amount of stress on the floor is NOT the same.

Last edited by crube at 20-Jan-2005 12:27

If it was me, I'd go for the largest tank that I would feel comfortable with. In other words, it might be a good idea to opt for a smaller one (like the 75 you mentioned). The reason is that this should be an enjoyable and relaxing hobby. If you're stressed and worried about the floor, it stops being fun and enjoyable. I reinforced the floor which holds my aquarium with a jack post just for the peace of mind.

An excellent idea Dr J but her neighbors down stairs might have an issue witht he jack in their dining room

Your basic 125gal tank will go about 1500 pounds, this is spread over about 12 square feet. This comes out to 125 pounds per SQ foot. This is like 6 to 8 adults standing close to each other talking in a party. My suggesion is to get the largest stand possible for this tank, an dplace it on an outside or other load barring wall. This could also be a center wall the runs the length of the building. Even though the floor will hold the weight, over time it could sag a little. The chances of it going threw the floor are very small, unless it's a very old house and there are a lot of structual problems. You also may want to check your lease to make sure you can have a tank. Some leases have restrictions on this.



Dan

I wasn't suggesting that she get a jack post, I was just pointing out that it's worth being cautious for the peace of mind. This is supposed to be a hobby and shouldn't create stress.