Fish Tank...

[sparkmanc]

Cheers for the advice material.buyer.

PS, if you look in the previous posts you'll see I have already cracked the 'FSH' joke.

Im suing.

 

[material.buyer]

Damn.. Thats one of my favourite crap jokes ever!

How about...

Two parrots sitting on a perch, one says to the other "can you smell fish?"

 

[Softus]

a fish tank will weigh a tonne (not literaly) but water is very heavy and a decent sized ta#nk really will weight quite a lot (depending on volume) so a stud wall is not a good idea.

A four foot (by one by one) fish tank will contain less then 113 litres of water, weighing less than 113kg (in addition to the tank weight).

The average bloke weights about 80kg - about two thirds of a full fish tank.

So, are you saying that a tank spread over several joists would be too heavy?
If so, why?

Or are you saying that an average bloke standing on one joist would be too heavy?
If so, why?

If you're not saying either of those things, then what are you saying, and why?

 

[breezer]

Put your ore in why dont you.

read it again.

You seem to have a habbit of reading what is not there

a fish tank will weigh a tonne (not literaly) but water is very heavy and a decent sized ta#nk really will weight quite a lot (depending on volume) so a stud wall is not a good idea.

A four foot (by one by one) fish tank will contain less then 113 litres of water, weighing less than 113kg (in addition to the tank weight).

The average bloke weights about 80kg - about two thirds of a full fish tank.

So, are you saying that a tank spread over several joists would be too heavy?
If so, why?

Or are you saying that an average bloke standing on one joist would be too heavy?
If so, why?

If you're not saying either of those things, then what are you saying, and why?

I never mentioned any bloke standing on any joist.

I never said spreading the weight over joists would be too heavy

I DID say a stud wall is not a good idea.

(air raid siren goes off, incoming from softus)

 

[sparkmanc]

Damn.. Thats one of my favourite rubbish jokes ever!

How about...

Two parrots sitting on a perch, one says to the other "can you smell fish?"

funny enough I was going to buy a parrot the other day.

There were 3, one was £100 cash, and the others were £10 over 6 weeks then £40 cash.

When I asked why I had to pay for the two in stages, the guy said it was because they were on higher perches.

Anyway back to the tank, would a 60 litre tank have enough suppoort on the vertical joists of my converted attic room?

 

[Softus]

Put your ore in why dont you.

My oar is of equal value to your ore (sic.).

read it again.

The words are still the same. They say things like "very heavy", and without any specific quantities.

You seem to have a habbit of reading what is not there

I have a rabbit, but no habit. Please stick to the topic.

a fish tank will weigh a tonne (not literaly) but water is very heavy and a decent sized ta#nk really will weight quite a lot (depending on volume) so a stud wall is not a good idea.

On what grounds is it not a good idea?

I never mentioned any bloke standing on any joist.

But I did. Blokes go into lofts and clamber about, therefore it's relevant.

I DID say a stud wall is not a good idea.

And I'm not sure why you're repeating, since it was incorrect the first time.

(air raid siren goes off, incoming from softus)

If you regard straightforward, concise, civil and relevant questions as some kind of air raid, then you must be quite insecure about that things you believe are correct. And with good cause I might add.

 

[breezer]

one snowman says to the other, can you smell carrots?

depends on the joists really

 

[Softus]

Can you backpedal as quickly on this?

 

[sparkmanc]

one snowman says to the other, can you smell carrots?

depends on the joists really

Yes, but I meant on a typical installation. I imagine there is some sort of regulation as to what timber can be used, and its tensile properties.

I may be wrong, can you clarify?

 

[extrastrongmint]

My fish tank in my room is 3 foot by 1.5 foot, it weighs according to that brilliant link 348 lbs, and stands across two joists - we put it there specifically.

Although in the wall tanks look nice they are very difficult to get decent access to the fish, you would need to perform maintainance at least once a fortnight ( ideally once a week) although it depends on the fish and your stocking levels. you would also need to feed the fish once a day.

You can get some lovely fish tanks, that can be made to match your furniture or the style of the room etc.

And isn't there a machine that tells you where joists are to save you knocking down walls all over the show?

 

[Chud]

Once you get up to 50 gallons (US'ish) you need to start thinking about putting in additional support as you would for a bath.

Added to the weight of water you would for a 4 footer 50 gal tank about 50lbs for rock/gravel and another 50lbs for the tank itself (very rough figures!).

I believe the issue is where the weight is constant it exerts a sheer force on the joists that is more damaging than the equivalent weight of people standing/walking in the same area.

For all things fishy I recommend the following http://www.worldcichlids.com/yabbse/index.php - not just for cichlid issues but general aquarium stuff - including DIY tanks, stands, weight/volume calcs etc.

 

[kevnurse]

Surely, the core of the issue is pressure. 10 gallons, 100 gallons, it doesn't matter. Its the distribution of the weight across the supporting structure that matters. The OP feels confident about the concept, so let him get on with his own figures, which will start with the fact that 1 gallon of water weighs 10Lbs. A structural engineer (or a website somewhere) will provide the data needed to work out the max span of a given size of joist or stud partition for the desired water tank.

 

[Softus]

Surely, the core of the issue is pressure.

I know what you mean, but it's weight, not pressure.

 

[bernardgreen]

There are two aspects.

Static weight which is relatively easy to plan for.

Dynamic effects which are not so easy

The Millenium ( wobbly ) Bridge in London was capable of carry a static load of people standing shoulder to shoulder coer the entire bridge. It couldn't cope with the dynamics of a few people walking across it.

Most floors move as people walk around on them and passing traffic shakes the building. Furniture and people move with the floor. The inertia of a dead static wieght of a large fish tank and the floor movement creates forces on the supports of the tank that are larger than the expected forces.