i live in a first floor new build flat which has concrete floors with wood joists upon it for the floor itself, i wish to install a new aquarium which will weigh roughly 500kg(0.5ton) i already have a 260kg aquarium which i intend to replace with the new 500kg one.It will be placed in the existing space as the old one. I need professional advice after trying engineer forums with no reply. So my question is ? will my floor be safe to hold this weight ?
Insufficient data. We could go on the assumption that your floor was built to code and give an answer, but we don't know. I've seen too much sub-standard work in brand new buildings to feel safe giving an opinion. If you decide to try it, install it with as much support as you can, spread the load the load evenly over as much of the floor as possible. And don't move your fish into it until you feel confident. Good Luck
In my opinion you would be ok if you set the tank evenly spaced over the floor joists. The floor joists rest on top of the cement. Cement can handle quite a load of weight but this depends on the thickness as well. Good luck in locating the floor joists.
Does it have a concrete floor or wood joists with a wooden subfloor and floor above that? Can't be both. I think you mean you have a concrete basement or crawl space and then floor joists and floor. In that case the joists are carrying all the weight. You will need the size of the joists, the span and the spacing, and the type of wood. Is their bracing between joists? And what is the floor area of the aquarium? edit, with that small footprint, you should consult a structural engineer. Floors and joists are designed to support a crowd of people, but this aquarium has about the same footprint as a person, but 5 times the weight. .
You will need to calculate the total load on the floor in that area and how it is distributed. So the length and width of the aquarium together with the weight of the stand, how the load is transmitted to the floor (four legs, a complete plinth, something in-between) will make a difference. Examples: A spinet piano weighs about 140kg and may have a footprint close to your proposed aquarium. Concert-grands can weigh up to 700 kg - but are spread over a much wider area. Water-beds can weigh 600kg, but are also spread over a wide area. You are concentrating concert-grand weight into a spinet footprint. If you have a slab-on-grade as the substrate, you *should* be fine. But there is still too little data here for a definitive answer. If your figures are right - you are stating that you are putting 1,100 pounds of aquarium in an area of two feet by three feet, consider: Clear water weighs about 62.5 pounds per cubic foot. 1,100 pounds of water is 17.6 cubic feet. So, you will have an aquarium that is 2 feet by 3 feet by ~3 feet high. And coming in at 184 +/- pounds per square foot. Would you be uncomfortable standing six adult male individuals in the same space? You are crossing two joists, but you have not specified the span. That you can calculate, and you can also calculate the total load that the joists can carry. And from that you should be able to determine how safe things are. But superficially and with normal residential construction properly installed and to code, you should be fine.
