Fish Tank (HELP)

darrencook

darrencook

darrencook

Associate
Joined
13 Jan 2010
Posts
50
Hey, posting this on here coz you lot seem rather clever.

I have a 280L fish tank (52'' Length x 17 Width x 18 Height)

I'm wanting the tank upstairs in my house, but not sure on the weight limit of the average uk house.

Pretty sure this house was built in the 60's or so. but other than that i can't give you much more details.

I did request some information from the housing place but as of yet no signs of them giving me any.

Tank is next to a main wall running WITH the beams not across them.

So i *think* the tank will be only supported by two beams... BUT there are metal re-enforcement beams in my living room that are under the tank area.

*HEAD AKE*

Any help would be nice... coz im lost...
 
If your bath can be full with you sitting in it upstairs, then your tank will be fine.
 
i heard that under the bath is re-enforced? dunno if this is true or not. plus other sites that state about the bath like you have...

Google Search Regarding this question said:
yeah but you don't stay in the bath for years. only a few hours at a time!
Click to expand...

Just don't fancy explaining to the land lord why there is a huge hole in the floor lol
 
You'll be fine.

1ltr of water = 1kg - so your fishtank inc stand etc will be roughly 300kg. That's no probs - what do you weigh? 80kg? Are you doubting 4 people could stand in the same spot upstairs? If it was a problem we'd see lots of headlines in the papers along the lines of "orgy breaks ceiling"!
 
I have a 240L and personally wouldnt put it upstairs unless it was across several beams. I have mine in the living room rather than office for this very reason.

The best way to be safe is to have an independant survey carried out to check the load limits of the floors.

In my experience bathrooms are reinforced and baths will be placed across beams and not with them. A 300L tank will weigh considerably more than the 300Kg of water too. Do you want to risk that weight falling through and then all the water going everywhere?
 
280L is a lot of water to go wrong.. but i aint paid all this money for it to sit downstairs really. i spend most my time in the office so wanting it in here. was the main reason for getting it...

Annoying me to hell, no one can give me a 100% answer, not even the land lord's office. seems to be a lot of questions on the net about this. but no real answer :(
 
I had a 180L tank filled with 75kg of rock standing on a laminated floor upstairs (against a load-bearing wall and perpendicular to the floor joists) and could see a small gap (2-3mm) appear between the floor and skirting board due to the weight but it's a dead weight so it wasn't a problem.
The tank's no longer there but the gap still is, albeit barely 1mm.

darrencook said:
.... seems to be a lot of questions on the net about this. but no real answer :(
Click to expand...

That's because it depends on the structure of the actual building and as most buildings are different no one can give a definitive answer.
People do have 200-300+ gal tanks upstairs so it can work.
 
to be safe set it up down stairs, you dont wanna have $1000 in damages plus the loss of your tank and fish. or u can get it checked out by someone? an engineer maybe?
 
You'll need an engineers opinion to get a straight answer no one should give you any advice without being able to calculate properly.

I have put a 4 ft tank on a ground floor that had timber joists, it's not the weight of the tank, its you as well putting food in and also your mate who wants to look, plus whatever else is in the room.

I found that the bounce in the floor increased and the tank would just sway back and fourth when someone walked past, I had to take the floor up and prop down to stop it splashing everywhere.
 
darrencook said:
Tank is next to a main wall running WITH the beams not across them.
Click to expand...

i've skim read your post, so forgive me if i've read it wrong. I just want to make sure i understand that sentence correctly- In that the tank is agaist the wall, and the joists are perpendicular to the wall? ( not the floorboards, the joists, sorry if im stating the obivous :P its hard to know how much people know, better safe than sorry)... 280 litres is a lot, what tank are you running (marine= water + rock).... I've never found a definitive answer about the limit of a weight of a tank, but id say you're around it to be on the safe side. If you can, maybe try and reinforce the area- make sure the floorboards are strong and maybe replace them, and maybe if possible sit the tank on a wooden board, to try to distribute the load better... I've never really heard of reinforcing beneath a bath, bar ensuring floorboards are new, and maybe putting some wood beneath the bath to spread the load.. You don't hear of too many fat people in their baths falling through their ceilings... Objects can hold weight a lod better than we sometimes give credit for, that said, you wouldnt want the tank to be a worry in the back of your mind, and i am by no means saying the tank will be fine, just giving my opinion...


If in doubt play on the safe side and set it up downstairs, or get an engineers opinion.
 
Last edited:
Ignore all of the bath/fat people on one spot/etc comments, get a builder in to have a look for you and get some peace of mind on it. I have a 200l in my room and got a builder round to okay it all, most houses differ greatly so it's really not worth the risk.
 
King85 said:
Ignore all of the bath/fat people on one spot/etc comments, get a builder in to have a look for you and get some peace of mind on it. I have a 200l in my room and got a builder round to okay it all, most houses differ greatly so it's really not worth the risk.
Click to expand...

This isn't a private house its council. i have emailed them asking about it. but unlikely they will give me a relevant answer.

How much was it for a builder to have a look? failing them telling me its going downstairs. but i wouldnt say the floor down there is any better...

there are two main beams running between two load baring walls in the sitting room, they run pretty much under where the tank is located atm, my theory was they would 100% support the dead weight as they are steal/iron beams.

But the question is if the joists rest on these beams or what.. as i have no way of finding out without ripping the chipboard up and last time i tried that it all broke to hell.
 
Last edited:
We've had this discussion on here before and TBH it should be fine in most houses (although with beams i'd be a little less happy about)...

I've seen a couple of answers given at the end of these sort of threads by the original posters when the builders/engineers have been round and they always say "yeah they ok'd it without modification", that includes a 5ft tank sitting on an overhanging indoor balcony. My dad is also a builder and I ran this sort of question before him once (again for a 5ft tank) and he also said it would be fine... :p
 
Last edited:
Amp34 said:
I've seen a couple of answers given at the end of these sort of threads by the original posters when the builders/engineers have been round and they always say "yeah they ok'd it without modification", that includes a 5ft tank sitting on an overhanging indoor balcony. My dad is also a builder and I ran this sort of question before him once (again for a 5ft tank) and he also said it would be fine... :p
Click to expand...

problem is finding a builder who

a) knows what they are talking about.
b) doesn't want to rip you off.
c) isn't a cow boy.
 
Which is most of them... ;)

Unfortunately only the cowboys ever get TV screen time...

Either way they will probably tell you to get a civil engineer in to do it.
 
take the carpet up in one corner, lift a couple of boards up and see which way the beams run, put the tank so its accross many beams. i would say it would be fine but its good to know for sure that it will be.

i was going to have a 5ft 300L tank in my room but just putting the tank in there alone put an oblong crack in the below ceiling the exact shape of the tank. the tank was 1cm thick glass and weighted a ton, took 4 of us to get it up stairs :p
 
i had a 190ltr upstairs for 3 years and I was never comfortable with it, I was constantly wary of it. I have a 300ltr tank now downstairs, and i'd no way consider having it upstairs, it weighs over a ton.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom