Stacking Aquariums?

[frogsplat]

Hi all, just introduced myself in the Welcome forum. I'm planning an addition to my house and would like to incorporate a divider wall constructed of 3 55g aquariums stacked up. I plan on welding up a frame out of angle iron to stack them and then finishing them with wood moldings and swinging access doors. I've gotta thousand question though so here goes #1: How much does a 55g aquarium weigh? I need to make sure the floor and the frame will support the weight.

The aquariums will be like a little peninsula so the front, back and 1 end will be visible. On the other end I would like to build a closet to house all the mechanics. And I guess I should include a drain and water supply in it too? I'd like to hide the filtration from the 3 viewable sides as much as possible but the only experience I have with filters is my current ones that hang on the back. Any suggestions for filtering from one end or through the bottom?

Are there any online design sites? Or any resources I should check out?

Thanks

 

[czcz]

Water is 8lbs/gal. AA has a sweet calculator to estimate substrate weight: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/calcs2.php?type=sanddepth

Not to take anything away for this forum, but I suggest you go to the DIY forum to bounce ideas around. There are many DIY backdrop designs, and you could build one on the "closet" side to house submersible or HOB filters. Your project sounds great and challenging, and if feeling adventurous I suggest reading about TomK2's water change system: http://home.comcast.net/~tomstank/tomstank_files/page0015.htm .

Another resource is King Vinnie's archive of DIY plans. Slow site but informative.

 

[QTOFFER]

Each 55 gal will weigh approx 550 pounds (takes into account 8 lbs/gal + 2 lbs/gal for gravel and rocks)

The best filtration for a tank this size, IMO, is a cannister filter. They are well designed for being hidden in a tank stand or cabinet. Plus, you can position the intake and return hoses wherever you wish.

I foresee some problems with your setup that you might not have thought of.

Firstly, a 55 gal aquarium is roughly 20 inches tall. Add another 8 - 10 inches of top clearance for lighting and maintenance access. Right there, that's 90 inches, or 7.5 feet. You don't want the bottom aquarium close to the floor because it would be difficult to see, and it might be kicked. The top aquarium in this setup would be very difficult to see and service - you would need a stepladder.

Secondly, aquarium room dividers are cool and aesthetically pleasing to us, but they can be very stressful for the fish living within them - what with all the reflections and human foot traffic. You'd have to carefully choose your livestock and plan your aquascaping so that the fish have plenty of places to hide.

HTH

 

[TomK2]

Three tanks tall could be engineered, but thats a lot of weight on a small footprint! Structural bracing for the stand would surely be required. Lastly, that top tank would be a real bear to maintin, being so high. Think about two high at most. even at two high, the lower one would be hard to view. Go with only one for weight and aesthetics?

Think about how much direct and indirect sunlingt it would get. Algae could be a problem.

A canister filter would be ideal. You could have all the plumbing on the closet side. You wouldn't need that large of a closet either. Don't forget to have lots of plugs in the closet. If you have a large closet and are going all out, a holding tank to aerate and heat replacement water would be cool. If you can plumb it like you say, you could use pumps and a holding tank to do effortless water changes.

The posibillities are great! construct it with a lot of thought to how the maintenance will be done. I've always wanted a room divider tank.

 

[frogsplat]

Thanks for the replies and advise. A lot of good info and opinions. I think I will go ahead and scale my plans back to just 2 aquariums. A combination of a lot of things brought up made me reconsider 3 stacked. Mostly the fact that I would be trying to support 1600-1700lbs. But I was also concerned about the lowest one being ignored because it would be too low. I guess with just 2, I will be able to raise the lowest one and leave a little more room between the 2 for access.

Then again... The room I'm adding on will have 10' ceilings. So on that side of the divider there will be an extra 1' under and over it. The existing living room (which will become dining room/foyer) has 8' ceilings. The addition will be living room/theater with a step down from the existing house. I may just go ahead and plan for 3, if I can support the weight, and then after the room is framed, see what it would look like mocked up. One thing that might make supporting the weight easier is that the tanks will be directly on top of the existing poured foundation wall.

Lots to think about. Thanks for the info. I'm sure I'll be asking more questions. Thanks again

 

[malkore]

don't forget the weight of a 55gallon tank by itself. I'd guess 50lbs.