Thinking about getting a 50 gallon aquarium, but have a question

[lain sorcer]

I'm thinking of getting a 50 gallon aquarium to replace the 10 gallon I have right now, but I live in a 100+ year old farm house and I would be putting the aquarium in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Can it hold that much weight? If so, what would be the best stand to keep the weight spread out more?

[atltk]

It really depends on the shape of the house, I live in a house older than that and have no problems, but it is structurally very solid. The best place to put it would be above two support beams (if you can locate them). I used cinder blocks under my 75 in line with the beams and put another one horizontal in the middle, put a piece of wood on top, the a "tablecloth" then the tank. According to my friend who is an engineer, he said this was the most stable way to set it up and disperse the weight (of course, for a "table" under $15.00). Of course the tried and true method works well also, get as many of your friends very close together in the area you want to put it. If you hear any uneasy cracking or anything like that beneath you, it may not be the best idea. If anyone falls through the floor, it is definitely not a good idea.
PS Also, with a house that old, you'll probably want a dehumidifier in the room.

[lain sorcer]

Ok, thanks for the advice. My grandpa's visiting in a month or so so i'll ask him where the best place would be. He's a carpenter, incase you were wondering.

[fish_doc]

"get as many of your friends very close together in the area you want to put it. If you hear any uneasy cracking or anything like that beneath you, it may not be the best idea. If anyone falls through the floor, it is definitely not a good idea. "

LOL

"My grandpa's visiting in a month or so"

I read that far thinking you were going to see if he would fall through the floor.

ROTFL

[osteoporoosi]

Check the floors, they might be twisty. I always have to check the tanks postition is vertically and horizontally straight before adding a new one, I live in an old woodhouse.

[danpik]

Water in that tank will weigh 425 Lbs. Not an excessive amount of weight. I would think that when all set up with decorations and such you might weigh in the neighborhood of 600 - 650 Lbs depending on what you put in there. I would not worry too much about the floor holding up to that weight. The tank won't crash through a hole in the floor unless you concentrate all of the weight onto one small area. Even then, the shear strength of wood is much higher than that. If the base that you set the tank onto spreads the weight out evenly the load placed onto each floor joust will be very small. For example, lets assume the tank is 48" wide and the stand it will be on is the same. If the floor structure is built with the joists on 16" centers there will be 4 joists carrying the load if the tank is set up perpendicular to the way they are running. Assuming a tank weight of 600 Lbs each joist will be supporting a load of 150 Lbs. If the tank is running parrallel to the joists then there would be at least two supporting the weight. Depending on the thickness of the flooring material the weight is also spread to the structure on either side of the load also. This is a real basic look at this situation and there are many variable to take into account in these situations. Was/is there any damage to the joists, are they properly sized and spaced are some of the obvious. How much other weight are they supporting is another. Probably the biggest is what is the structure like under the floor? for example has someone in the past removed a supporting wall? If the floor is level and feels solid then you should be OK. I had, in the past, an older house built around 1900 and had a 2500Lb waterbed on the second floor with no problems. In fact, if I remember correctly, there was a small (1/16") crack in the cieling below it and it barely opened up any more once the weight was added.

Dan