Interesting discussion

[X-Factor]

So my GF and I have been discussing a bigger tank for her growing collection of fish (btw: do fish really only grow based on size of their tank?). We live in a 3 story townhouse (1st floor = main herp room and garage). We have been looking for used acquariums to try and save on cost (fail.). One in particular was a 120gal acquarium plus ALL the necessary accessories for $200. Great deal. Problem is this: We started theorizing on weight. For those of you who like fish, let these numbers sink in: I've highlighted the important bits for you ADD types.

-1 gallon of water = 8.33lbs (she rough measured 8.5lbs with a mostly full jug of milk), extrapolate this for a 120gal acquarium and you get: 999.6lbs.
-The tank itself, being all glass and slightly thicker glass due to size, probably weighs (guessing for the sake of argument) 200lbs. We're up to 1199.6lbs
-Gravel. She told me you need one pound of gravel for every gallon. 120lbs of gravel is alot of money but that's besides the point. SO we're up to 1319.6lbs.
-The weight of the stand is relative to what type you get; I'm going to assume a furniture type (oak etc); which I will guess to be around 60lbs. That brings us to 1379.6lbs.
-Add on filter, hood, heater, acquarium decoration, plants, fish, etc and I'm going to guess your total weight is going to be around 1,500 lbs. That's 3/4 of a TON.....MIGHT want to think about where you want to put an acquarium before you get one. I can't lift the 10gal that she currently has....Just figured I'd share. This is a normal kind of conversation with us.

[mpgt]

You're right. They're pretty heavy. I put floor jacks under my house just in case, when I got the 135 gallon. I sold a 330 gallon to a lady who was going to put it on the 3rd floor of a Army headquarters building in Panama. Her movers broke it, so we didn't get to see if the floor would hold it. She had a couple of 200 gallon tanks there though.

Think how heavy a water bed is though. An aquarium distributes the weight over a 6'2' area. Your refrigerator might put more weight to the floor, per square foot.

[X-Factor]

Originally Posted by mpgt

You're right. They're pretty heavy. I put floor jacks under my house just in case, when I got the 135 gallon. I sold a 330 gallon to a lady who was going to put it on the 3rd floor of a Army headquarters building in Panama. Her movers broke it, so we didn't get to see if the floor would hold it. She had a couple of 200 gallon tanks there though.

Think how heavy a water bed is though. An aquarium distributes the weight over a 6'2' area. Your refrigerator might put more weight to the floor, per square foot.

That's a good point Joe. I don't know how heavy a water bed is, but I've never seen one that just sits flat on the floor; ends up being a standard 4 post bed frame, think about THAT weight distribution...

[mpgt]

The bottom of my water bed frame looks just about like an aquarium stand.

[X-Factor]

Oh really? Ok. I've never seen one like that.

[mpgt]

It has 6 drawers under it. I thought that was pretty much standard.

[X-Factor]

Maybe it is. I dunno.

[razeraze]

Better yet think about a cast iron jacuzzi tub. I have heard stories of them falling through the floors.

As far as fish any thing will grow better given proper space and diet, an animal not given proper space and diet can be stunted.

[X-Factor]

A point that was raised to my by someone else that I didn't think about was that the volume of the gravel/furtiture will offset the required water....so my figures are off somewhat.

Thanks for that clarification Tom.

[mpgt]

The gravel doesn't displace as much water as you might think. You'll get a pretty close estimate with the figures you posted above.

What kind of fish are you looking at Tom?

I wouldn't recommend that much gravel. It traps a lot of debris, and is a constant source of nitrates. Assuming you're not using an under gravel filter (very old school), you would be better off with an inch or less of gravel.