3rd floor apartment

[Maillis]

I live in a third floor (top floor) apartment and was wondering what the largest tank you folks think would be safe. I currently have a 20 gallon in my bedroom that is doing alright but some of the fish are looking a bit cramped and I want to get them a new, bigger home for the livingroom. The apartment building is only a couple years old.

 

[fishNCovice]

try looking for building codes in your area, they should say what the weight limits are on floors in multi-story buildings, anybody know where?
i think maybe a contractor, or even a building inspector could tell you.......

 

[Keeper]

it all depends on the flooring. is it a concrete building or framed with wood? if it's concrete...you could pretty much go as big as you want. with the wooden flooring you would want to know how many support beams would be under for support and would they be parallel or perpindicular to the tank.

 

[fish_doc]

Even with a wood floor you should be ok with a 55gal.

 

[Maillis]

Yeah i figured a 55 should be ok, i was hoping to go up to a 75 but i think that may be pushing it since this is a wood frame building as far as I can tell. I'm going to ask the folks down at the apartment office and see what they say.

 

[AussieGal]

I live in a second story apartment and have a 60 gal tank (concrete / tiled floor)... no cracks in the floor yet

 

[deli_conker]

The bigger the tank, the closer to a load bearing wall you'll want it. I have a 55 gal in the middle of my living/dining rooms as a seperator.

It also depends on what way the floor joists run. Basically, you'll want the tank to be perpendicular to the joists, that way it will be sitting on as many as possible which will give you less load per joist.

 

[Maillis]

Thanks for the replies. I plan on placing the tank along one of the exterior walls, if I can find out which direction the floor beams are going I think I'll be alright.

 

[Deitta]

I was hyper paranoid so I put my little 29gal near the outside wall and pretty close to a corner with a load bearing wall. Apparently I did not need to be THAT paraniod, but hey! Why take chances when most renters' insurance won't cover a fish tank falling through the ceiling of the lower neighbor.
Think of the average entertainment center... 29" TV can weigh over 100lbs + other componants (DVD, Radio, VHS, Cable) + all those tapes and DVDs and CDs... there would have to be a legal min strength. If it can put up with all that...

 

[Verse914]

I had 12 tanks in my 3rd floor apartment The building is concrete and held up the weight without any problems. I had 12 tanks for at least a year before I sold 9 of them last month. Im moving into a house, so I sold most of my tanks so I dont have to move them into the new house.

 

[@HOME]

Even if the building is wood construction, code takes into account the fact that 4-6 large men could be sitting on a large couch. Even with 4 @ 200lbs plus a sofa. around 1,000lbs. If it is a newer building it shouldn't have any problems holding a large tank. do check with management to see if they hafe any reestirctions, but you should be ok.

 

[fish_doc]

Water weight is 8.34lbs per gallon saltwater is slightly higher. Then you have the weight of the gravel, stand, and glass or plexiglass, hood, ect. Add these together and this will let you know how much your tank really does weigh.

 

[Maillis]

Even at 12 lbs per gallon (to account for the water, tank, gravel, stand, etc) a 55 gallon (which doesn't really hold 55 gallons of water because of the 1 inch or so of empty space at the top) would come in at 660 lbs. I'm putting the tank along an exterior wall and as far as I can tell the floor joists under the tank are running perpendicular to the tank, so if the floor can't support that weight then I'd hate to see what a strong breeze would do to this building. :?

 

[kansaschick08]

hey verse914 nice pics!

 

[Verse914]

thanks kansaschick