go through floor

[gary007]

many worry me saying i will go through the floor with weight of fish tanks with water lol i never heard of this happen though. i dont fully fill tanks to the top just to be on safe side lol im upstairs. i heard of 50gallon tanks upstairs and no go through floor lol

[Mferko]

a 50 gallon when full weighs 600 lbs, personally if i got 4 150lb friends over and had them standing side by side upstairs i wouldnt be worried.
heres a site with dimensions and weight of the most common tank sizes
Fish Aquarium and Tank* Sizes and Characteristics, starting an aquarium, buying equipment, choosing tanks

[StickS]

You should be fine with a 55g. I had a 120 setup on the 2nd floor of my place for a long time before moving. Probably wouldn't go that big again unless I saw the structural of the floor though.

Found this if you feel like reading on it though:
how large an aquarium can my floor support

[rescuepenguin]

Look at how much you weigh and figure out how much weight per square foot or square inch. Then do the same for the aquarium. I have never heard of anyone falling through a floor, unless the floor is damaged.

[gklaw]

It will take quite a bit to go through the floor. The floor are designed not against failure but for "serviceability." I.e. is the floor too bouncy or will it deflect too much for comfort.

Depends where you put it, it will cause a bit of deflection - like my 75gallon. I notice a bit of deflection. Now that there is 600 lbs on your floor, add a few more guys around it and the floor will feel bouncy.

I ban kids from running in the living room where the 75 gallon is sitting. I can have 20 people sitting around in a 12ft x16 ft beside the tank and not worry about that falling through. I would worry if they all start jumping up and down.

Have to be more careful with large tanks though.

[snow]

I had my 90g on the 2nd floor but where I put it there was a wall underneath in the basement so that have it extra support.

[Clownloachlover]

a certain amount of comfort can be determined by which direction the floor joists run under the tank. if they run parallel to the direction of the tank then maybe one or two joists will be carrying the weight of the tank and this is not that good...if the floor joists run perpendicular to the direction of the tank then the tank itself may span 4 or 5 joists and will usually be located against a wall which would be a support wall for those joists which is the best way to go...if you have 2 X 8 or 2 X 10 floor joist chances are you will be okay...if you are so concerned hire an engineer for an hour and get him to give you an idea as to what you are up against!

[gklaw]

a certain amount of comfort can be determined by which direction the floor joists run under the tank. if they run parallel to the direction of the tank then maybe one or two joists will be carrying the weight of the tank and this is not that good...if the floor joists run perpendicular to the direction of the tank then the tank itself may span 4 or 5 joists and will usually be located against a wall which would be a support wall for those joists which is the best way to go...if you have 2 X 8 or 2 X 10 floor joist chances are you will be okay...if you are so concerned hire an engineer for an hour and get him to give you an idea as to what you are up against!

Well said but 2"x8" is not good unless it is spanning like 6 to 8 ft.

I could use some part time work but where on this planet is Cornwall.

Seriously, if you get an engineer at full rate that will be over $100 for him to take a look.

[Clownloachlover]

well cornwall is one of two places..Cornwall Ontario, or Cornwall Street which is don by Kits beach in Vancouver...on the opposite side of Burrard near the Molson Brewery but runs southbound for several blocks in the kits area...there may be other "cornwalls" but those are two I am aware of!

[LikeItLow]

i used to have a king sized water bed (the mattress was 8 feet long 7 feet wide and about a foot tall). my bedroom was bigger than a big 2 car garage (atleas 20'x40')and it was very bouncy in the center. just walking into the room would shake everything. and thats before i added the water bed. i had the bed for atleast 5 years without any problems and i had a 70 gal tank in there at the same time.

you dont have anything to worry about. unless your house is full of rotten wood.