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Tank size in upstairs room

MrRich

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27 Dec 2022
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Brighton
Hi. I'm hoping to get a larger tank in the next few weeks and because it will go into a bedroom on the 1st floor I'm wondering if there is any risk of structural issues if I get a 240l aquarium. Does anyone know what the maximum 1st floor loading is in the UK? Thanks

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Hi. I'm hoping to get a larger tank in the next few weeks and because it will go into a bedroom on the 1st floor I'm wondering if there is any risk of structural issues if I get a 240l aquarium. Does anyone know what the maximum 1st floor loading is in the UK? Thanks

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I have a 240l on the first floor, but only for the last 10 months. So far so good.
I'm guessing it can depend on how old the building is? Or the build quality/methods?

If I think about it for too long then I do get a bit anxious though!
 
If you and your mates all huddle in that corner I’m 99.9% sure you’ll be fine. It’s really hard to say, but it would be very weird for your house floor to fallout for so little weight.

Anecdotal, as it doesn’t help much, but it’s a running joke in my family that no furniture can be bought if the furniture can’t hold an aquarium. Oddly this has worked in everyones favour as now, all furniture we have is built to last with few exceptions; even in my siblings houses where they have no intention of having a tank.
 
Oddly enough I just had this conversation with our joiner who is replacing a floor. The floor beams were installed pre building regs and they need strengthening and bracing for normal use. Even after that work is completed we will need to strip out our hearth as it is too heavy. His view was that he regularly sees problems in older houses renovated in the 60s and 70s as they "didn't have the money, didn't have regs, and did things on the cheap" (his words). So I would be particularly careful when placing a large tank on a 1st floor if your house is an older property.

Our builders comment on our hearth was "which silly bugger thought of putting that lump of stone there...that will have to go". It's a modest hearth built by the previous owner...nothing like the weight of a 240lt tank...
 
I've just looked this up, its 2.5kN/m2. Using a web calculator thats ~250kg per m2.

To say that this seems small is an understatement, but I presume its based on central beam loading conditions.

When growing up my first and second tanks had around 270l (100 + 170) of capacity, were placed on the same corner of my room without issues for around 5 years.

Not actually sure any of that helps.
 
Maximum loading will be based on structural materials and construction methods.
Also where the loading will occur, as near the support (next to a wall for example) will result in less bending and deflection of a beam when compared to in the middle of the span. Also, if the tank will load across the maximum amount of joists or not.
 
You could check the loading using a "span chart" which you can search for and find online, wherein you might need to know the grade of timber, span, and dimensions. You could include the weight of the stand, hardscape, filters, fittings and persons standing nearby the aquarium in your calculation, plus an allowance as margin or error and extraordinary events. I would also recommend inspecting how the joists are hung and looking for damage in advance of purchasing the aquarium that you have selected. I could not fit an aquarium of that size in the first floor of my property as it currently stands because it would be lethal, but I hope that you have no problems.
 
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The room is in an extension that is only 20 years old so it should be built to modern standards. The tank would be adjacent to a structure wall and going across the joists rather than along them and when the extension was built they constructed a new leaf of concrete blocks instead of cutting into the existing brick outer leaf of the original wall. All of this is good. On the other hand some of the work was poorly done so there is a possibility that the floor isn't as strong as it should be.

Maybe I could attach the cabinet directly to the wall to add additional support.

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If the extension had planning there's a chance the building regs drawings are online in the planning portal somewhere. If you could find them then a structural engineer should be able to give an idea without having to visit. There's even a forum somewhere for such queries although I can't remember the name.

On the other hand, your tank will only weigh as much as e.g. a big wardrobe or 3 big blokes. Timber joists will flex before breaking, the plaster downstairs won't so if there was any cracking you'd know you'd overdone it and could likely empty before any damage done.

Easy to say when it's someone else's house!
 
I assume that the extension was "permitted development" so I doubt there will be any documentation. The idea of the plasterboard cracking as a warning is what I'm going, and I'm sure that the floor is strong enough anyway, but there is still that chance of catastrophic failure!

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I worked in that field, could be different in UK but i doubt it. We take extra protection with assurance, often 250 kg/m² is known to public, in reality near the wall, 600 kg/m² is okay, the real max is near 900kg, depend on the thickness, 20cm support a lot. 240l in modern structure at first floor is nothing at all. I've seen 1000+ liters 1st floor for years and years. People often don't know how strong reinforced concrete is . Even in the middle of the room 240l is okay, but if you want peace of mind, keep it near bearing walls.
 
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In the UK, most houses do not use reinforced concrete on the 1st floor, but wooden joists with floor boards. That’s why you can here the kids get out of bed and creep around at night when your watching TV. :lol:
Really weird for a developed country people use to put lot of stuff at 1st floor at least in France :D
 
I suppose for the standard UK 2 storey semidetached house reinforced concrete construction offers no benefit over traditional block work walls and wooden joists and so the thousands of builders making our houses just keep doing what they know how to do.

Anyway, I've decided to get a 180l Fluval Vicenza tank setup, my uninformed brain has come to the conclusion that 250kg or there abouts is perfectly fine whereas the 350kg of a 240l tank will inevitably destroy the house. I'll let you know how things go!

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My mate had a tank upstairs, maybe only 100l odd, but had a few minor issues:
  • He positioned the tank in not ideal to view or not in the place he originally wanted so that tank was at right angles to the floor joists, so that tank was resting on the floor joists where they were supported by the wall.
  • Floor not level upstairs, so bits of board were required to get level. Also slowly went "un level" once filled as the carpet depressed more at front than back. Empty tank, more bits of board (2mm, 4mm ) under legs and all fine.
  • Tank wobbled if you "moved like a dancing elephant" in the same room.
  • Water changes around beds, hanging clothes, wardrobes, someone using the bathroom, pipes across floors etc was a real pain and made changing water not simple/easy.
  • Spilt water stains the ceilings below !!!!
 
That’s the key one. Even walking can wobble the floor and thus the tank.
When records were a thing :rolleyes: it was marvelous when I moved from an upper floor rented room to a concrete floored house. I could now play a whole side of a record without it jumping due to me breathing/moving in the same room....:eek:
 
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