125 in apartment building?

[12 Volt Man]

careful.

you cant think of it as a fridge - unless your tank is in your kitchen .

when builders build kitchens, the weight of heavy appliances is taken into account when constructing the floors in that area. the same is done in bathrooms where the bath will be.

but where we want to put aquariums most of the time (living rooms etc), the floors were not built to handle 1000+ pounds of weight in a small area.

thats why putting very heavy aquariums just anywhere can be a problem.

besides, I am pretty sure your 150g full weighs a lot more than even a fully loaded fridge - probably almost 1000 pounds more..

so I wouldnt really think of it as just a fridge

of course, it would be almost unheard of to have a tank fall through the floor.

but that doesn't mean that putting a huge tank in the wrong place (ie unreinforced flooring that needs it to handle that kind of weight) won't cause long term structural damage to the floors.

because it can.

 

[freshwaterfishing]

Something to think about in apartments is how much electricity you have left...aka: you gonna trip the breakers? I am in an apartment as well (1 bedroom), I have a (I am on the bottom floor) 125, 75, 55 & 35 - I have a 180, but not enough electricity to run everything i need to for it, so i have to wait to set it up
At the least, I'd suggest checking with your landlord if I were you... A lot of places wont let you have that size on an upper floor, not just because of the weight, but because of the potential water damage if it happens to leak...

Im not talking to the landlord, I already have to many tanks and to many others pets! I have insurance so theres no need to talk to him. lol

careful.

you cant think of it as a fridge - unless your tank is in your kitchen .

when builders build kitchens, the weight of heavy appliances is taken into account when constructing the floors in that area. the same is done in bathrooms where the bath will be.

but where we want to put aquariums most of the time (living rooms etc), the floors were not built to handle 1000+ pounds of weight in a small area.

thats why putting very heavy aquariums just anywhere can be a problem.

besides, I am pretty sure your 150g full weighs a lot more than even a fully loaded fridge - probably almost 1000 pounds more..

so I wouldnt really think of it as just a fridge

of course, it would be almost unheard of to have a tank fall through the floor.

but that doesn't mean that putting a huge tank in the wrong place (ie unreinforced flooring that needs it to handle that kind of weight) won't cause long term structural damage to the floors.

because it can.

Thanks alot everything youve said make very much sense. Youve and everyone else have calmed my nerves.

 

[Iffrat]

careful.

you cant think of it as a fridge - unless your tank is in your kitchen .

when builders build kitchens, the weight of heavy appliances is taken into account when constructing the floors in that area. the same is done in bathrooms where the bath will be.

(A tank along a load barring wall is about the same... [ about 10 years in the construction industry is my qualification ])

but where we want to put aquariums most of the time (living rooms etc), the floors were not built to handle 1000+ pounds of weight in a small area.

(no always true)

thats why putting very heavy aquariums just anywhere can be a problem.

besides, I am pretty sure your 150g full weighs a lot more than even a fully loaded fridge - probably almost 1000 pounds more..

(a fridge is about the size of a 300 gal tank 72x30x30 or much larger for a side by side)

so I wouldnt really think of it as just a fridge

( wrong ;-) )

of course, it would be almost unheard of to have a tank fall through the floor.

but that doesn't mean that putting a huge tank in the wrong place (ie unreinforced flooring that needs it to handle that kind of weight) won't cause long term structural damage to the floors.

(this has some truth to it. but buildings tend to be WAY over engineered for maximum safety)

because it can.

hope that clears some stuff up

 

[12 Volt Man]

(a fridge is about the size of a 300 gal tank 72x30x30 or much larger for a side by side)

but size is not the issue here. the weight is. a 300g tank will weigh close to 3000 pounds when full. no fridge weighs that much full. not even close.

no fridge weighs close to 1500 pounds either. even when full.

 

[Iffrat]

but size is not the issue here. the weight is. a 300g tank will weigh close to 3000 pounds when full. no fridge weighs that much full. not even close.

no fridge weighs close to 1500 pounds either. even when full.

no but a fridge that is the size of a 300 gal tank could weight as much as a larger fish tank .. and the foot print is much much smaller ... so the weight per Sq Ft could be about the same ... no fish tank has the foot print of a fridge ..

 

[12 Volt Man]

from the article:

Myth #5: "If the floor in my kitchen can support the 500 lb refrigerator then the floor in my living room should be able to support my 500 lb aquarium." This isn't necessarily good logic. Do the floor joists span exactly the same distance in both rooms? Do the other items in the rest of both rooms have the same weight? Is your refrigerator and aquarium the same shape so that this same weight is distributed over the same number of floor joists?

The reason that there is rather large safety factor built into the floor design is to take care of as many unknowns and imperfections as possible. Did the plumber cut a notch in the bottom of your floor joists for his piping? Is there any insect damage or maybe a little dry rot? Is there a split or knot in the wood in a zone of high stress? No one wants to have to replace their floor because it is not in perfect condition. So if your aquarium loads your floor over the safe load limit you might not be in danger of collapsing the floor, you might just have less safety factor than recommended. If you're stretching the load limits of your floor structure, then be absolutely sure that your floor structure has no imperfections.

Myth #6: "I put that huge aquarium on the floor and nothing bad happened therefore the floor is safe." If you choose to think of "not collapsing" as safe you are certainly free to do so. But if you have a safety factor of only 1.05 in your floor structure you probably don't know it, and there is not a structural engineer in the land that would tell you that it is "safe."

the whole point of this folks is to realize that you need to be careful when setting up huge tanks.

you cant just put your 150g or 300g tank anywhere and hope it will be fine.

 

[siebertn]

125 should be ok but i agree with 12 volt man i won't put my 300 on the 2nd or 3rd floor but im not a building engineer so it is only my opinion

 

[Iffrat]

again i said that it has to be placed in the right location.. but dont give people the wrong idea about what is "safe"

im telling you that from years of experience that as long as the tank is placed in the right location along a load barring wall and the weight is distributed among many floor joyce then it should be safe for long the long run. I have had 150 gal fish tanks in my 3rd floor apt for well over a year now at my current location with no change in the floor and the tank is still just as lvl as it was the day i filled it.

now i would not go and put a 300 gal fish tank in the middle of the room running with the joyce and expect there to be no problems. but in all actuality .. it would not send the tank crashing into the apt below..

the floor is not going to be the most common failure point... the tank is.

 

[Natural_Born_Killer]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php

this is a good read re aquarium weights and normal floors..

Thanks for the article... I admit I didn't read the whole thing just yet, but if I do upgrade I certainly will!

For the OP - I live on the 4th floor of a 11story flat. I have 120g which so far is going well...

 

[l3raD]

12 Volt Man,
Are you in the Construction Industry?
I cant say i know too much being 1st year apprentice carpenty & Joinery,
BUT, i called up my father being in the trade all his life and in a post when you mention

"when builders build kitchens, the weight of heavy appliances is taken into account when constructing the floors in that area. the same is done in bathrooms where the bath will be."

That is entirely untrue,
When building a house,appartment any building in general,
Every building comes to a standard of structure.
Kitchen,Bathroom,living room any room has the same flooring and weight structure,
they dont add in extra weight bearers, joists just because its a kitchen with appliances or bathroom with the bath shower or basin.

Im agreeing with you with your statement on the fridge,
No fridge will weightout a fishtank, 125gallon+ tank anyways.

Personally, I would definetly not situate the tanks close being 1m or so apart,
Pretty much just be carefull, seek out possible some proffessional advice,
Every building is different, layout, structure its all unique
Just keep in mind if that tank does fall through then wat?
brr i dunno wanna imagine
I really wish you luck
Should be fine
Falls through though WE WANT PICS!
hehe take care