Size of Aquariums in Condos?

[Beccadawn]

Hi Everyone! I'm trying to buy my fist place & the most important thing to me is my pets. Now the building that I'm currently looking at Statra Bylaws states that I'm allowed a reasonable number of fish...it doesn't state a size restriction at all. What is a reasonable number of fish? And does that mean I can bring my 300 gallon system :biggrin: What size systems do you guys have/had in a condo? Is there any other issue you can see? Oh I've only been looking at concrete because I assumed it would be stronger & could buffer the noise. Now I just need to find a building that will let me have more then 2 fluffy pets.....

Thanks so much!!!
Becky

[Keri]

I would definitely contact the strata council - ask for a gallon amount because with something so vague as "a reasonable number of fish" they can decide What that number is After you've set up and they don't want it in the building! I mean, yeah, you could have just two fish (both sharks!) in a 400g system.... but I doubt they'd be cool with that ;)
I was on my own strata council for years (SO glad to be done with it and be in a house now) and sadly that's the way it often works.

[intarsiabox]

There are websites that will give you the weight per square foot of standard size aquariums at their operating weight. I would show this to the condo association and ask what the floor will support. 2ft wide tanks actually spread the weight out better so maybe a 120g would be a "reasonable" size?

[lorenz0]

All depends on how the building is built. After I purchased my place i found out that I wasn't allowed a tank over 40gal. Booo

try to find a building made out of concrete. I know a certain someone on here has a 150gal on the 6th floor. but ceriously, make sure its concrete

[freezetyle]

I have a 50 gal with no issues. but ultimately like others have stated its up to strata.

[toxic111]

BTW concrete floors are designed to the same load (live/dead) that wood floors are, so that won't make much difference.

[SAMSHUNG]

5th floor of concrete building, 55gal + 5gal sump. No problems. I think even a 75-100gal tank would work if I had the room.

[lorenz0]

BTW concrete floors are designed to the same load (live/dead) that wood floors are, so that won't make much difference.

depends. I have no idea which way the I beams are running in my building. And personally I wouldn't risk my neighbour underneith me getting an unwanted shower

[SAMSHUNG]

I've never heard concrete creak.

[toxic111]

I am just saying it don't make much difference.. Floors are designed (residential) to carry around 40lbs/ft2 live load (plus fudge factor).

Spanning accross more joists does help some, but even a concrete floor is done the same way, the reinforcing in the floor spans like joists.

Generally concrete floors are used for larger spans than wood joists can do.

Not all floor systems are 'I' joists either, they may be open web, or even just 2x10's.

What I am getting at, is there is no right answer, each floor maybe different on how they will handle the load. The further the clear span, the more problems you may have, and the smaller tank.

The only way to truely answer on how big of tank you can have on a floor is to have a structural engineer review the floor system from building drawings. Or just play it safe and figure how much your tank & system wieghs, and figure out the load per ft2.

This is what I do for a living, so I have a good idea what I am talking about.

[darb]

If that is all that the bylaw states is "reasonable" then I would say that the door is pretty much wide open to personal interpretation.

So personally, I would say that any production tank on the market is reasonable since they are commonly available through any LFS and mass produced .... sounds reasonable doesn't it?

I would also keep away from the strata if you are bent on getting as large of a tank as possible. Undoubtedly their interpretation of reasonable will come into play and may be considerably less that your interpretation. Maybe if you wan't to do some due diligence, start a poll in a thread and ask the question to your fellow peers: "what size aquarium do you think is reasonable?"

I am certainly not a structural engineer, but I can say that floors in a concrete mid/high rise are going to be a minimum of six inches of concrete and rebar; go into the stairwell of the building and you will be able to see how thick they are in the buildings that you are looking at. Again IMHO there is no way that 2 X 8/10s on 16 inch centres with a sheet of 1/2 inch ply on top are anywhere near as strong as 6 inches plus of concrete and steel.

So as long as you buy a production tank and stand combo and ensure that your insurance will cover you in event of catastrophic failure, you are within the realm of reasonable .....

[steve fedyk]

I had 120g tank with sump on the ground floor in a 7' stand, with no problems.
I did check to see how thick the foor was. When I pulled up the floor I saw tire tracks from a crane-all.
It was one of the polygon biuldings by pine tree and david.
I would look for a ground floor condo with the parkade under you. then get you can get your 300 g reef.

[e46er]

check with strata thats the smartest thing you can do reasonable to me is around 120G which i have but all my friends not in the hobby tell everyone "he has a f**king huge saltwater fishtank"

[shrimpchips]

I checked with our condo management office and insurance companies about restrictions and didn't find any. Mind you, a 130g system is plenty for me. I figured it's less volume than a queen size waterbed (albeit a smaller footprint), and the condo was totally ok with the idea of one of those.

[mycat99]

when i moved into my condo was told a 120gallon was ok on 15th floor 4years later new condor board said no pet aloud at all they even when into my place to check was told to get rid of at pet or sell and move

[Jeff000]

when i moved into my condo was told a 120gallon was ok on 15th floor 4years later new condor board said no pet aloud at all they even when into my place to check was told to get rid of at pet or sell and move

They can't do that, against the law. Just an FYI.


I have a 90g with a 30g sump in my condo. Being on the ground level with a 12" slab I was told 300 gallon max.

[ultreef]

My strata says the exact thing, reasonable number of fish.

I have a 120g 4x2 footprint on the 12th floor. Building is a year old. However, they don't know about it and I don't plan to let them know.

I believe that if there is no by-law stating the exact gallon, then you be the judge. But don't over do it with a 300g. They might put in new by-law later but until then, I'm good. And as someone said already, I don't think they can make a new by-law and convict you of it afterward.

Do get insurance if you want a tank in your condo. Accidents do happen and water does quite a bit of damage.

[sphelps]

Typically 120 is as large as you want to go in condos and apartments, especially with sump. You can larger without issues most of the time but 300 gallons would be too much, not only for structure but liabilities due to any water damage. There's no way a typical condo would allow it.

[KPG007]

Many times stratas say 'reasonable' just to cover their butts in case something bad happens. You can buy a 60g and if it goes through the floor they can say it was 'unreasonable' size and make you liable for damages.

Usually, if there is no noise, smell, leaks, complaint issues, you can keep pretty much anything you want - as long as it's legal. As soon as you get one complaint, any size can be too big. That's why they're being vague.

[NanoHuman]

My building limits to 30 gallons. I have a 28 gallon that I drilled and a hidden 30 gallon sump that I have hidden. It passes inspection when the yearly fire alarm inspection takes place

[Sean]

I got a small nano cube in my appartment. One thing I would suggest is either an A/C unit or a chiller for the aquaruim. My experience with condo/appartments are that they tend to be extremely warm.

[torrid_07]

i have a 5g nano and a 29g bio cube in my 3 bdrm apartment on the 3rd floor which is wood frame.
i previously had a 75g but it took up too much space so i downsized :biggrin:
i definitely would recommend advanced insurance though

[Beccadawn]

Thanks everyone for your help. Deep down I knew that my tank was most going to be too big, but I just love it so much. But I would feel terrible if it went through the floor. (Hubby's main concern not to mention possible water damage if it let go...) I put an offer in tonight on a condo, not ground level though... My current tank setup is 44 x 31 x 28.5 for the top tank, then I have a 70 gallon sump with the middle as the 1st refugium, then I have it plumbed into another 70 gallon under the larger tank that is another refugium seahorse/slow fish tank. I can separate it apart, but it's such a shame as I was making it into a bar with stools, it's peninsula tank so you can view both tanks from the 3 sides, and the bar is on one side, it comes in handy for water testing/cutting coral, eating & standing on. I'll have to post some pictures one day so you have an idea what I'm talking about. I haven't even gotten to finish the facing yet!

Thanks again,
Becky

[lobsterboy]

I know a certain someone on here has a 150gal on the 6th floor. but ceriously, make sure its concrete

:question:

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I had a 300G (total water volume) system in my condo for a year or so. I would say the size isn't the problem but having the space for proper equipment and maintenance is.

My strata by laws don't say anything about fish or aquariums at all. Just 2 pets per condo. The aquarium counts as one. We have 4 pets in that case which is pretty normal for our building...I know a few people have 3 dogs and strata doesn't care at all. Someone above me has a 250G freshwater. Strata knows about it...he's on the board actually. He said they just wanted to know about his insurance.

Building is 10" thick concrete floors and all concrete walls between all the units, so you can't hear a thing other than in the hallway (through the front door).

I don't think its easy to find a building with the concrete walls but I leaked about 80G of water onto our floors last year from my RO unit and not a drop went through to anyone elses place. Water just pools up and stays on our floors.

Good luck.

[wolf_bluejay]

I live in a strata (townhouses not condo), and I've got 220 + sump in my place. I'm also the chair of the strata.
What is important here is where the bylaw comes from, as we have the EXACT same wording as will a whole lot of other strata. The reason it is there is when the condo act became the strata act, there was a "default" set of bylaws that automatically became the bylaw, so it is not that the strata has a problem with fish tanks, or dog, or cats or anything -- it is just that nobody sees a need to modify the bylaw.

Since it is written with the term "reasonable" number of fish has some neat twists to it -- I have 8 fish, a big tank, but only 8 fish. Generally speaking this is not a battle that any strata council would care to get into a fight over as if it came down to court, the strata would probably lose.


The short and sweet -- Don't make it a problem for your neighbors, and no one will care. Make sure you are not pushing the limits of the load capability of the building and don't flood anyone below you is you have anyone underneath.

[untamed]

I live in a strata (townhouses not condo), and I've got 220 + sump in my place. I'm also the chair of the strata.
What is important here is where the bylaw comes from, as we have the EXACT same wording as will a whole lot of other strata. The reason it is there is when the condo act became the strata act, there was a "default" set of bylaws that automatically became the bylaw, so it is not that the strata has a problem with fish tanks, or dog, or cats or anything -- it is just that nobody sees a need to modify the bylaw.

Since it is written with the term "reasonable" number of fish has some neat twists to it -- I have 8 fish, a big tank, but only 8 fish. Generally speaking this is not a battle that any strata council would care to get into a fight over as if it came down to court, the strata would probably lose.


The short and sweet -- Don't make it a problem for your neighbors, and no one will care. Make sure you are not pushing the limits of the load capability of the building and don't flood anyone below you is you have anyone underneath.

This is the same as my situation. Same bylaw. I elected NOT to bring it up because that was just asking for trouble. In my case, I have 16 fish...which I consider "reasonable" so no specific council permission would be required. (I have over 500 gallons of water, though!).