What is the largest tank you would put in an upstairs room?

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CanadianKeeper

CanadianKeeper

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2012
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Ontario
Pretty straight forward question.

I know somewhere on the net this is broken down. I feel like a 90 gallon was the cap for modern day homes.

What would you do?

I have a 55 upstairs. Considering upgrading to a 75.
New town house built in the last 3 years. In a corner of an exterior wall but running along a non-exterior wall.
3rd floor... main floor is garage and mud, 2nd is kitch, living/dinning, 3rd is bedrooms and office (fish tank room)
 
Hello; Too many unknowns to give you a straight answer from a distance. Some structures can hold thousands of gallons and others not much at all. My first question is do you own the property. I have some information sites saved somewhere and can try to find them if you wish.
Don't know if the culture is still active here as it has been in the past, but eventually you will get an OK from someone who has never seen your place.
 
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Zero gallons.

I had a 29g in an upstairs bedroom crack and leak about half it's water onto the floor before I thew about every towel we own around it.

I'll never have an upstairs tank again.

If I ever do larger than my twin 75g tank stand, it will be in the basement for the same reason.
 
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I'll preface by saying I'm NOT an engineer, and so my advice should be considered anecdotal.

A 75g tank doesn't weigh any more than 5 average adults would. Do you have any concerns about having 5 adults stand together in one spot upstairs? Would it bother you to have 10 adults in that room?

I used to live in an old (100+ years) shotgun house on a crawlspace. It was not particularly well built. At one point I had 2 x 125gal tanks (plus sumps), and 2 x 55gal tanks on an over under stand, all in the same room. One of the 125's and the 55's were on an exterior wall, but the other 125 was on a perpendicular wall with no specific support underneath. As far as I remember, there was no sagging or bowing of the floor joists, and I never had any real concern about weight. The tanks were in those spots for several years.

The tank will definitely be longer term static weight, but I can't imagine it being too heavy for the structure to support.

Edit:
I will add that I would have concerns about water management and potential spills. If there is a bathroom on that floor water management may not be an issue. One I've my 125's had a siphon fail and flooded about 30 gallons on the floor. That wasn't fun to clean up, but potential spills are kind of an accepted risk if you're going to have tanks, and especially larger tanks.

If you have anywhere better to put it on a lower floor that may make more sense.
 
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Apt typically limit fish tanks to 50gal.
This is about the same weight of a adult in a filled bath tub.
 
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If it makes you feel any better, I had a 110 gal, standing in line with beams and not against them (which would have obviously of been better) on the ground floor above a cellar. The house is built in the 1880's... no issues from me.

Like the example above, I likened it to 5 or 6 adults sitting on a sofa in that same spot.

But I do understand people's concerns.
 
Way too many variables as mentioned above, the only way to be sure would be to have a structural engineer have a look at it...

Then there is the question of placement, if its against a structural wall it would probably hold a little more weight vs in the middle of a room with no support below...

I think the general consensus tends to be around 50-75G to be safe, but again, its just heresy as there are too many variables involved including age of the home, materials used etc...
 
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