75gal + 2nd floor apt. = ???

[jandree22]

sorry to keep bugging everyone about my apartment issues!! anyways, what are the thoughts on a 75gal. in a 2nd floor apt? I know 1st is ideal, but long story short we'd be getting more for our money with the 2nd floor.

I'm ballparking a filled 75gal. w/ stand would weight about 800-900lbs. Which IS a lot, but that's abou the same as 4 adult men... which I couldn't really see falling through the floor... but maybe that's not a good way to think about it? any input would be great, thanks

 

[WRASSER]

You will be OK, a water-bed weighs way more than that :wink:

 

[jandree22]

Maybe it's impossible to say from what I'm about to explain, but the apartments we're looking to get into, are in a row building such as I've illustrated below...

Is there anyway to determine where the load bearing walls and/or the direction of the floor beams for this type of building? I'm hoping the beams run long ways(left to right) and each wall separating neighboring apartments is a load bearing wall, rather than the front and back wall of each apartment... if that makes sense :wink:

 

[jandree22]

I found a website specifically addressing this issue which answered many questions I had, although I'm still very welcome to any additional input!

FWIW, here's the site. Seems like very legit info and LOTS of it!

Floor Support for Aquariums

 

[Anonymous]

I honestly don't know how to tell for sure which way the joists run in an apartment, but I have known many people who keep 75s in upper level apartments.

What you really need to be concerned about, is floods.

I have known more than one person who was kicked out of their apartment because something malfunctioned on the tank and flooded water into the apartment below.

 

[jandree22]

well, there's no way a tank malfunction can cause a flood because I'm sumpless... (well, unless I spring a leak! 8O )

my problem is I sometimes forget to shut off my RO unit, but a simple float valve could help with that issue

 

[Anonymous]

I flooded 3 floors of a Sublet THE FIRST DAY I moved in. The Fire department woke me up at 4am. oops.

Your outside walls are load bearing. Depending on the floor construction of the building the inside walls might or might not be. if your sub floor is concrete, then you shouldn't have any problems. I bet the middle of the three walls is load bearing as well.

Are all the apartments the same? do they have the same walls you have? Check with your downstairs neighbor, and see where their walls are. (you can also get a feel on how cool they'd be if you flooded their apartment.)

B

 

[mike90]

the way i see it, if your floor cant hold a tank in an apt, its the apt complexes fault. its not your fault for faulty construction. :lol:

 

[jandree22]

well, I specifically asked about any policies on aquariums. several places just kinda said, "umm... nope, they're fine. just no waterbeds". I even mentioned that it's 75gal. and will weigh between 800-1000lbs. and still no problems.

 

[goby2]

I'm ballparking a filled 75gal. w/ stand would weight about 800-900lbs. Which IS a lot, but that's abou the same as 4 adult men... which I couldn't really see falling through the floor... but maybe that's not a good way to think about it? any input would be great, thanks

What if four adult men stand next to the tank?

 

[flanders]

ive had my 72 gal + sump in my place wi issues.. i am in a brownstone and had the building inspector help me figure out wich wall would be the best..

i also built a platform for it to better disperse the weight

and have flooded my neighboor 4 times couning this saturday...

 

[mike90]

wow. how does that happen? it leaks and then goes through the floor?

 

[jandree22]

just for shts and giggles, let's throw a 180gal into the equation. more specifically, even if I only get a 180gal in a few years when I get a house, at what point do I need to beef up the structural support for the floor that I put it on? Next house after an apartment will be a townhouse most likely, and I'm not sure of how policies go with them in modifications like that.

 

[Anonymous]

wow. how does that happen? it leaks and then goes through the floor?

Yeah, something malfunctions and water goes everywhere and leaks through the floor.

one possible scenario:

You have a hang on overflow, and power goes out and the overflow doesn't hold suction like it is supposed to. Power comes back on, and the return pump pumps all the sump water into the main tank, but it can't drain to the sump because the siphon was broken, so the tank overflows onto the floor. (happened to us, not in an apartment though)

 

[Anonymous]

We have concrete construction down here, so I didn't have to worry. I have my 75 in a 6th floor apartment.


I will say this: I've been in some wood construction buildings up north where you can feel the floor bowing under your weight in some spots. That's not good.


Also, having 4 football players sitting on a couch is a fun analogy, but the 4 football players don't stay on that couch for the next 2 years without ever getting up. That kind of weight for that kind of time can slowly stress the floor support in wood construction.

Odds are, the tank won't fall through, but if the floor begins to bow a little, it makes the support of the tank uneven, which could lead to stress points in the glass and cause a crack or a seam to start leaking.



Just thoughts though...with a 75 gal, you'll be fine.

 

[mike90]

You have a hang on overflow, and power goes out and the overflow doesn't hold suction like it is supposed to. Power comes back on, and the return pump pumps all the sump water into the main tank, but it can't drain to the sump because the siphon was broken, so the tank overflows onto the floor. (happened to us, not in an apartment though)

how did you loose siphon? was the siphon too short? mine usually just stops and picks right back up

 

[Anonymous]

I dunno, maybe there were air bubbles in the tube.

Either way, it was one of those "supposed to work one way and didn't" kind of things.

 

[jandree22]

Murphy's Law never fails :roll:

 

[mike90]

man that had to have sucked!