# Aquariums in Bedrooms?



## REDSTEVEO (25 Feb 2014)

Hi, I want to put a tank of roughly 400 litres in a spare bedroom which is currently used as my office at home. The tank will be 1m 30cm x 65cm x 65.

My question is will the floor boards hold the weight or will it go crashing through the floor into the ceiling below when I fill it up? There is the kitchen directly below the bedroom with no supporting wall that I can see. Would I need to get someone in to strengthen the floor boards.

Someone tell me this is easy to sort out if that is the case. Pictures would make me feel good.

Cheers,

Steve.


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## Martin in Holland (25 Feb 2014)

This is more a question for an architect to come to look at your place.


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## James O (25 Feb 2014)

As I'm in a 1st floor flat I've done some reading up in this.

at least 1 of the rooms walls will be an outside, and therefor structurally load bearing wall.  This will be the strongest wall along which to place your tank.  if you stripped away the floor, would any of the other walls of the bedroom run on top of another wall in the ground floor?  If yes is this ground floor wall solid rather than stud frame?  If yes again this is a load bearing wall and is also a good choice to run your tank along

floors in modern houses have a non static load capacity of 1.5kN/m2 which might help in calculations.  your tank is nearer 550l. It would need to be 47cm tall to be 400l.  1 litre of water is approx 1kg and your tank would weigh approx 136kg so 686kg.  Add approx 75kg for the stand, sand and rocks etc and we are at 761kg (3/4 of a ton  )sitting on a floor area of about 9sq ft = 84.5kg per sq ft. Rough calculations but hopefully give you an idea.

For this much weight and if your wall for the tank were solid, I'd still check with an architect.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (25 Feb 2014)

I had a 250 litre In an upstairs bedroom. I often anticipated finding it in a wet living room. 

Being so large I'd advise against it.


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## REDSTEVEO (25 Feb 2014)

[quote="James O, post: 337182, member: 11099"*]floors in modern houses have a non static load capacity of 1.5kN/m2* [/quote]
Hi James, I think I understood most of what you wrote apart from the bit above. One wall is an outside wall and it is that wall where I would be placing the tank. The adjacent wall however is a stud wall and on the other side of that is the shower cubicle from the on suite in the bedroom next door. I have visions of the weight causing the boards to shift and crack the tiles on the other side of the wall, or crack the shower tray.

I have tried finding an architect but getting one to actually come out and assess it is proving to be a problem. The only reason I was looking to put it upstairs is because I have not got room for it downstairs unless I remove a small section of wall between the living room and dining room at the half way point. But getting someone to co0me out and assess this is also proving to be impossible.

I am beginning to think this might be a bad idea.


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## James O (25 Feb 2014)

My tank is 200x45x40 so about 360l. The difference is our weight distribution. Mine runs along the outside wall and is only 45cm from front to back so the footprint is large for the volume of water and the weight doesn't venture too far from the wall. 

If you went 130x45x45 you'd have 263l with really good front to back depth and plenty of height. Plus the weight would be around 45kg per sq ft


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## REDSTEVEO (25 Feb 2014)

I am planning to set this up, (when I can figure out where it is going) as planted discus tank so really need the height and depth. I appreciate your advice though!

Steve


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## James O (25 Feb 2014)

130x35x60h is 273l. Would that do?


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## REDSTEVEO (25 Feb 2014)

Not really I was looking more towards 400 litres. I want to put about 12 discus in it.


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## James O (25 Feb 2014)

I'm guessing 130 is your limit?  The only way to get 400l is tall and narrow and the longer the better


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## REDSTEVEO (25 Feb 2014)

Yep I think you are absolutely spot on!!


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## James O (25 Feb 2014)

Okay I had a think......

If the wall you plan to place the tank against is an outside, solid wall you could get a metal frame built.  Using box section crate a stand made of 2 or 3 cubes.  Where one of the vertical bars is against the wall bring it up behind the tank maybe 3-4ft and anchor bolt them to the wall.  If the frame were just wider than the tank you could weld in a triangle between the outside uprights and the bed of the stand.  A the front along the floor you'll need adjustable feet in case the floor drops a little as the tank settles as you don't want all the weight on the wall.

That's a _really_  over engineered option


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## REDSTEVEO (25 Feb 2014)

Let me think about that for a while. Okay I thought about it...DIY for me comes out as DYI ...Do Yourself In 

But thanks for the suggestion!


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## James O (25 Feb 2014)




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## Ady34 (26 Feb 2014)

I had a 6'x2'x2' in an upstairs bedroom when i lived with my parents......it never ended up downstairs, but thats about as technical an answer as i could give you 
I would have thought against an outside wall and if you go across the joists you will have no issues. Perhaps also cut a board to go under the stand to help spread the weight evenly.


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## Ian Holdich (26 Feb 2014)

Two words...structural engineer.


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## harryH (28 Feb 2014)

It's always best to have someone who knows to have a look. Even a good builder if you know one will be able to tell you about load bearing.

Upstairs rooms have remarkably strong floors especially against the walls if the load is spread across the joists. I could be wrong but modern houses in particular seem to have the same joists under the downstairs floors, it's just that the drop isn't as far .


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## Edvet (28 Feb 2014)

For 12 discus i would advise app 600 liters. And you would need to do either frequent or large waterchanges, so be near a faucet/drain


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## ian_m (28 Feb 2014)

harryH said:


> I could be wrong but modern houses in particular seem to have the same joists under the downstairs floors


Most modern houses are now floating concrete raft on downstairs floor, thus putting a 1000litre tank in middle of floor won't be an issue. Upstairs floors nowadays are supported by "engineered" beams, stronger and more fire resistant than standard wooden joists, again a tank at edge wall should be OK.

http://trussform.co.uk/download/uk_tech_complete.pdf


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## Edvet (28 Feb 2014)

ian_m said:


> Most modern houses are now floating concrete raft on downstairs floor


 I thought these are the standard british houses:


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## James O (28 Feb 2014)

Only on the Shire


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## harryH (28 Feb 2014)

But that's a bungalow surely?


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## Robert H. Tavera (5 Mar 2014)

something that you need to consider is the total weight of the furniture and people on the bedroom, a really interestig experiment is to place 8 or 9 people in a very tiny space in the center of the room and see if the foor bows, or makes a sound (in case of wood floors) of course it won´t fall down but it can orientate you. A normal conrete  floor can suport more than a couple tons in its weaker part.


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## ourmanflint (5 Mar 2014)

Great thread! Confident my dream 90x45x45 shouldn't be a problem now. Many Thanks..


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## REDSTEVEO (8 Mar 2014)

Glad someone else got something out of this thread! I have had a quote for getting the wall between the living room and dining room removed and it will cost about £1000.00 so I am not sure I will be getting it done. The bedroom cum study might be the only option but I would have to reconsider the size and the weight.

Cheers,

Steve


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