"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 17 May 2004 23:28:04 +0100, "Marcus Fox"
wrote:

Is it possible to have a 5' x 2' x 2' aquarium on the upper floor of a
two
storey building with no extra floor support? Doing the maths says that
it
will exceed by a long way the 1.5kN per sq/m in the building regs, as
works
out at about 600kg over 10 sq ft (0.92 sq m) but I have a feeling it's
not
that simple.

Hi,

A bath probably holds that amount of water. If it's in a corner and
across the joints and the stand spreads the load across the floor
there's less chance of problems.

Do the manufacturers have any guidance on this sort of thing?

LOL, a bath would probably only hold about 150 litres if filled to the
very
brim, and this tank would hold 566 litres.


Marcus

Some other points for you. I can't help you on the floor loading,
but I do have an aquarium of similar size (actually 2m x 60cm x 60cm)
- approx 700 litres. The weight of the glass is not inconsiderable
either.

Yeah I know, I added a bit onto the weight of 20 cu ft of water (566 l), and
since I doubt very much he will be filling it brim full, I added a
convenient 34kg to make 600kg. Every inch of water he leaves out will be
23.58kg in weight.

Since an empty 180 gallon 72" x 24.5" x 25.625" weighs 338lbs or 153.31kg,
(http://www.alysta.com/books/fishtank.htm - couldn't find the 5 ft tank
there though). That tank will be 2 sheets of 72" x 24.5", 2 of 24.5" x
25.625" and one of 72" x 25.625", thats 6628.625 sq inches of glass. That's
23g per sq in glass.

The 5 ft tank will have 3 sheets of 60" x 24" and 2 of 24" x 24" or 5472 sq
in. At 23g per square inch, thats 125.8kg.

Subtract the (very convenient, lol) 34kg from that, gives 91.8kg or 3.9
inches of water.

Doubtless, gravel and rocks will weigh a lot more than the water they will
displace, which must be considered and hard to calculate unless you know
quantities.


I have mine in a downstairs room with a concrete floor so loading is
not an issue. I built the support arrangement using three hollow
brick piers with the space inside equivalent to two brick depths -
about 200mm. Each was the full depth of the aquarium and was then
filled with concrete.

I don't know if I'd be able to sleep at night with a tank deeper than 14
inches on my upper floor. Depth of 14 inches gives 68 lb sq ft (plus weight
of glass). Australian building code gives 75 lb sq ft for floor loading
http://www.auspet.com/fish10.html. Couldn't find UK code in psf.


A length of wood block kitchen worktop was laid across the top of
these and levelled. A piece of 12mm sheet Styrofoam was cut to
the tank size and placed between it and the wood. This is a *vital*
step as you probably know to avoid the tank cracking.
600 litres of water on the floor goes a very long way.

Yeah I know, I filled a tank up on flat concrete in my garden. Cracked base.
Have plated base with a piece using lots of silicone sealant and tank has
been in service for a year with no leaks

This has been entirely successful and in place for a number of years.
Water has been exchanged, but the tank never emptied.

When moving my tank I did take the opportunity to scrub it clean in the
garden, as there was a lot of crud in the gravel.

Marcus