Large aquarium in a condominium questions

[streetjudge79]

Does anybody have a large aquarium (120 gal or more) in a condo above the first floor? I'm curious if it's safe to put one in. We have concrete slab flooring and I just want to make sure the floor would support more than 1,000 lbs.
Thanks
Steve

 

[Jar*Head]

Steve i have seen people with 150g on second floor but i wouldn't do it . I think your max is 120g or less just to be safe...

 

[TriHouse]

I have a friend that has a 220 and a 120 in the same room. He's on the top floor of his concrete slab floor condo

 

[michika]

I have a 180g on mine.

 

[streetjudge79]

Michika, what floor are you on? And how long have you guys had them ? My wife is making me a nervous wreck about doing it.

 

[reefkoi]

We did a 240 on the 3rd floor of a concrete floor apartment building a few years ago. Depends on what management thinks
C

 

[michika]

We are on the 2nd floor. This particular system has been set up since March. Prior to that I had a tank with a water volume of about 80g. There has been no ill side effects at all. We also cleared it with the condo manager and the board prior to setting it up. Then before the smaller tank we had a 230g system and it also did fine.

 

[streetjudge79]

The good thing about where I live is that my building president wants a Big saltwater aquarium and asked for my help with it, so that helps! I looked at the 210 (48x36x27) and the wife gave me the go ahead, but we have to do some minor house renovations first. I'm going to be buying the system from Big Al's superstore. They will deliver and set up for free.
Man I cannot wait!

 

[michika]

Good luck with it!

As an FYI and something that we are doing is taking measurements of the room. We are keeping a log of measurements to make sure that nothing is moving. Even though our whole condo is concrete/cement (I'm not sure which is the right term), we always want to check.

 

[Jflip2002]

Also do yourself the favor of spending the $60 annually to get renters insurance. That'll be peace of mind also.

 

[chem-e]

I had a 92 gal in my condo. I was on the top (4th) floor, but I had a corner unit and I'm pretty sure I had a couple of I-beams underneath me. 100 gal is the largest I would go and I bought some additional insurance as well just in case something happened. I never needed it, but it was more for peace of mind.

 

[streetjudge79]

Well we own the condo, we aren't renting. It's insured. Big al's is also fully insured and bonded for doing the set up.

 

[Jflip2002]

The downside is I dont think your tank is covered if something happens. Just the property. I would check for some sort of specialty insurance.

 

[streetjudge79]

Will do.

 

[mcliffy2]

I own a 6th floor condo and have a 238g display, 360g total volume (click the little red house). I have wood floor over concrete slab. My wood has bowed a bit but other than that its fine...We have a building engineer so I cleared it with him before I ordered the tank.

btw, I really like those dimensions....youll love the aquascaping possibilities with a 36" width :thumbsup: Are you looking at one of those new marineland tanks? They are pretty nice, not quite on the same level as a custom built, but very nice for a large-scale manufacturer.

 

[mcliffy2]

oh yea, and I did take out the $25/month insurance that gives me like 500k protection (everything but the tank) if it were ever to flood.

 

[Sk8r]

when I lived in a concrete building, I was told by the manager that they used "foamed" concrete to add strength and lose weight. That might depend on the age of the building. I-beams, rebar grid, all sorts of methods of concrete construction... Useful to know what the construction is like, where the loadbearing supports are, and to plan the tank location accordingly. Ask somebody in appliances what they think the weight of a fully loaded doublewide fridge is: that's one of the heaviest "normal" things a condo has to expect to bear.

 

[Ed Reef]

I have a 300g and I'm on the 13th floor. Guess it depends on how the apartments are build. Best to check with building management and see if you can get the 'green light'

 

[streetjudge79]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12878818#post12878818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcliffy2
I own a 6th floor condo and have a 238g display, 360g total volume (click the little red house). I have wood floor over concrete slab. My wood has bowed a bit but other than that its fine...We have a building engineer so I cleared it with him before I ordered the tank.

btw, I really like those dimensions....youll love the aquascaping possibilities with a 36" width :thumbsup: Are you looking at one of those new marineland tanks? They are pretty nice, not quite on the same level as a custom built, but very nice for a large-scale manufacturer.

That is exactly what I'm going to be getting. I fell in love with it at Big Als. I still can't believe I got my wife to go for it..
Now the big decision.. do I do a refuge or Sump. I only plan to do soft corals and some LPS like Torches and grapes. I want mostly fish in it though. The wife doesn't want me to run a R/O directly to the tank for ATO. So I'm kind of stumped as what to do for that.