Hi
I am thinking of buying a new tank that is 200x47.6 x 70.5 cm. What I am worried about is that the floorboards will be holding a weight of 545 litres,118 gallons. This will be resting on floorboards of 15x5cm timbers. The joists are 2.5 metres long. The tank would sit on two joist along the length. Do you think this will be ok? Otherwise there would be an awful lot of water to clear up.

Do yourself a huge favour and get a competent builder to come in and have a look if you are not sure. Remember you are dealing with a huge amount of weight. You certainly don't want that crashing through the floorboards. I have got a 125 gallon tank sitting on floorboards. However, I have got mine situated right next to a supporting wall, this is what I was always advised to do. I was always told never to p
ut heavy fish tank in the middle of the floor

Hi Karma
Thanks for the reply. The tank would be next to a supporting wall. The problem is that the floor is tiled with stone tiles,so we are unable to check the floor which is only three years old. I have a 50 gallon tank there at the moment. But O and companions need more room.

I think you're looking at the wrong part of the screen for the username:lol:

I wouldn't like to give you the okay to put such a heavy tank in your room. I have no idea of your situation and how your house is built. All I can say is my 125 gallons has been situated next to a supporting wall for quite a few years now and I've had no problems. I still think it would be wise to contact someone who is in the business of building houses or something like that. I expect they will take one look at it and tell you whether it's okay or not. It is very important you check this as you are talking over a ton of water, so you want to make sure that is standing on a secure floor

I don't know if this will help so I will say it any way.

118 gallons US = 984.7411649 Pounds
118 gallons UK = 1,182.6248236 Pounds

As you can see from the previous post your tank will be very very heavy. As already said get a very good builder or a structural engineer to look at things (he will probably be able to tell from the plans of your house). The consequences of the joists not taking the weight are not just the water from the tank but also the problems from the joists breaking. Its just not worth the risk

I dont know what country your are in but the local council might be able to help

if you live in the US
you could try town hall to see if they have the plans to your house. most state require town hall to have it

The supporting wall idea is always the best way to go...dont use your houses load baring walls(if u have and upstairs), i would suggest to place is on and outside wall, or center wall in your house.

vaga wrote:


I thought a supporting wall and a load bearing wall were the same

Nope a supporting wall is one of your houses outter walls...A load baring wall is a wall in the middle of your house that is holding up the upstairs.The reason i say don't use these walls is beacuse they have enough stress on them, and u dont want to chance it.(although they can support they extra weight beacuse the wall runs right down to the floor joices).

The reason i say use the outside walls is beacuse they dont run down to a floor joice they run right into your foundation. Cement is much much stronger then wood in my opinion.