How much weight?

[FLIP]

How much weight can I place in my 86gal tank. I want to place some big pieces of rock (like I see in many photographs), but I'm afraid it would break. I have been limiting myself to small pieces of rock and my tank looks ugly.

 

[joekoug]

I would place the aquarium on a thin piece of styrifoam to even out the weight on the bottom of the tank, and if really worried, I'd get a piece of plexiglass cut to fit into the inside of your tank. All the sw guys/gals place plenty of weight into their tanks, something like 1 to 1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon of tank. For example, in a 90 gallon tank it is common to place 90 to 140 pounds of live rock in...

hth
Joe

 

[krap101]

im sure nethin within proportion will be okay... it's the stand id be worried about

 

[QTOFFER]

I don't think it's much of a concern. I probably have about 60 lbs of rock in my 58 gal - no problems.

What you DO want to avoid is a huge concentration of weight at one point on the tank bottom. If you have a very large rock with a small footprint, you could place it on top of a piece of flat slate buried in the substrate - this will distribute the pressure more evenly.

Also, arrange the rocks so that they can't tip over and bump into the tank wall.
If you have fish that like to dig, be careful to plant the rocks deeply within the substrate, so the fish can't undermine them.

 

[revhtree]

I have 155 pds of LR on my 75g tank, not counting the water weight.

PS. Finally someone ask a question that I can answer in the FW section.....AWESOME!!