How do I find out...

[Spencer]

How do I find out if my tank will fall through the floor or not?

I live on the 6th floor of an apartment building and I want to know if having a 150gal tank is out of the question. I just moved in and so far everything from my 77gal is in a 20 gal for the mean time.

Is it possible?

Thanks,
Spencer

[bluetang]

Is it a old building or a new one? Newer ones are usually concrete floors.

[outtafocus]

If its concrete you will probably be ok. But if it is an old building made of matchsticks and sugar packs Id be very wary.
Even with concrete, I would choose the placement very carefully. Look for the pillars running in the walls. Try to place it so these pillars take the load.

[martym]

On the 6th floor I wouldn't do. I know there use to be restrictions on waterbeds in apartments. If you own it check with the strata council, if you rent, check with your landlord.

[Willow]

the older building are probably the safer ones. i knew a guy who lived on the 3rd floor in a 2 brd apt who had around a 1000 gallons of water in tanks around the apartment. he has a structural engineer certify that it was safe and had to carry some serious insurance but no problems.

[Spencer]

Yeah, it's an older building from the late 70's early 80's era that I own. The building is 17 stories tall and definitely concrete; it’s really solid I know this because it’s really quiet.

I don’t really want to chance it – I want to be sure. Maybe I’ll just set up my 77gal instead.

-Spencer[/quote]

[Aquattro]

If the floor is concrete, you're fine.

[bulletsworld]

If it helps, I lived in an older apartment on the 4th floor, it was a walk up.

At one time I had a 77gal, a 46gal, a 29gal, 37 gal and a 10gal all setup in my living room. Thats almost 200 gals and my building was all wood, not concrete. Did I mention I lived there for over 2years too. I had insurance too just to be safe.

I had a friend that was a fancy pants Architect and advised me its best to put tanks against low bearing walls. That meant the out shirt walls, no inside walls. For example, the hallway wall that runs with the outside hallway of your unit. Also the wall along by a balcony, etc.

If your building is concrete then your all set. If your tank is 6ft long instead of 4 ft thats even better to since it will stretch to cover more footage and be better supported. Best of luck in you decision!




p.s. Also to if your really wanting to know where your wall beams are there is this gadget at Canadian Tire for about $50 that is a meter that points a red spectrum at the wall and detects where your beams are. I've never tried one myself but bet it be a cool toy.

[Aquattro]

Load bearing walls are also concrete in these buildings, so the CT gadget won't do much good. When I worked in high rise construction, we would land a crane load of steel anywhere at all on the deck (floor area) and the load would almost always weight more than a 150g tank.

[bulletsworld]

Hey good to know!