40g breeder tank club

[Intranick]

I have made my mind today -- final

maybe its too soon to post. Or we could call this the planning phase.

I'm going to have a successful aquarium. After my last attempt, a leaky nano cube, I was turned off to the idea for almost a year. now fall is coming around, im actually surprisingly sitting a little better financially, downsized my apartment a little, and im going to school with the help of loans for the cost of education, and my parents for living costs -- and a little extra

It will probably be 1-2 months before I can start getting equipment, but this time I'm going to do things right. no shortcuts like getting the nano cube that was like .. an "all in one solution" -- maybe this is just a wet dream so far :P

So.. I havn't decided, but I like the 36" length and the 18" width of the 40 breeder, but 16" seems a little shallow -- thoughts?

[plecosword]

I really like those dimensions. the 50 gallon is taller, 19"
Aquarium Sizes and Weights

[Intranick]

yeah I was looking at that. I was wondering if a 55 would be too heavy though. I did have a 55 in the same building for a while, before I ran into money problems (due to lack of work, i volonteered to take time off when we were slow because I was working for my old man's company, and i know he'll make sure i get enough to pay my bills and eat, just not help me with things like the aquarium) -- but the 50 has a different footprint, only 3 feet instead of 4. It SHOULD be ok, but I still am not sure how to figure it out -- they couldn't tell me what the building was designed for last time.

[plecosword]

I like the 40 and 50 because they are 36" long, lights that long are cheaper and more common htan 48" inch lights. also they are both wider than the 55g.

[SoccerBum474]

with the shallow tank (40 breeder) you don't need such powerful lights t-5's would be great for a tank like that; it also gives you a lot of room to scape horizontally and it would leave you more room for coral. ( i believe)...

[Intranick]

I was thinking along the lines that a 48" has a better chance of covering the most boards under the floor. Perhaps I could design a stand to help with that, I have the tools and probably enough scrap metal at my disposal, and my dad has always wanted to teach me how to weld...

[plecosword]

yeah as long as you stay under 24" tall, T-5s will work.

[KellyKM19]

The weight in a shorter tank would be in a more concentrated area when you are talking 50 vs. 55 so your thoughts are probably on track with crossing boards in the house..

I know the thought of having only a 36" tank seems like a good idea because it takes up less room but I have done this (just on a larger scale) and I just spent a lot of money to switch back. I had a 180 gallon (6') and had a custom built 175 (only 4') because we wanted the same amount of gallonage only in a smaller space so it was a lot taller instead but we found out not too shortly after that the fish seemed to not to be as happy. I don't know what type of fish you are going to keep but I know all the ones I have ever owned always swam more side to side than using the height of the tank... they were more active in a longer tank than the shorter one... you may just want to consider that when choosing your size tank as well.

[Intranick]

Originally Posted by KellyKM19

The weight in a shorter tank would be in a more concentrated area when you are talking 50 vs. 55 so your thoughts are probably on track with crossing boards in the house..

I know the thought of having only a 36" tank seems like a good idea because it takes up less room but I have done this (just on a larger scale) and I just spent a lot of money to switch back. I had a 180 gallon (6') and had a custom built 175 (only 4') because we wanted the same amount of gallonage only in a smaller space so it was a lot taller instead but we found out not too shortly after that the fish seemed to not to be as happy. I don't know what type of fish you are going to keep but I know all the ones I have ever owned always swam more side to side than using the height of the tank... they were more active in a longer tank than the shorter one... you may just want to consider that when choosing your size tank as well.

I'm actually more concerned about coral than the fish -- id like to have a few fish, but coral is my main interest.

Is there an easy way to tell how much weight your floor can support? it's a 3 story apartment building, im guessing mid 80s construction.

[DAHansen]

Originally Posted by Intranick

Is there an easy way to tell how much weight your floor can support? it's a 3 story apartment building, im guessing mid 80s construction.

Really depends on the building, but it should be able to hold just about any system under 100 gallons. Use a flat-bottomed, weight distributing stand and you'll be fine. It would also be nice if you can run it perpendicular to the support beams.

[Intranick]

weight supporting stand? is that a specific type?

[Jeremy0322]

I didnt see anything about weight supporting stand, but the weight distributing stand goes along with what you were thinking all along. If you can take the weight of the tank and spread it out over numerous beams in the floor you should be more than fine. You just dont want something that has legs where you are putting all the weight on like 4 or 6 key points, that is where you would probably run into problems.

And isnt there somewhere you can go like a court house or something that will give you blueprints of public building such as apartment buildings. You could take something like that to a colllege physics professor and he will be able to tell you EXACTLY what you need to do, there has to be a way to figure out what that floor can support and how its built.

[Intranick]

Originally Posted by Jeremy0322

I didnt see anything about weight supporting stand, but the weight distributing stand goes along with what you were thinking all along. If you can take the weight of the tank and spread it out over numerous beams in the floor you should be more than fine. You just dont want something that has legs where you are putting all the weight on like 4 or 6 key points, that is where you would probably run into problems.

And isnt there somewhere you can go like a court house or something that will give you blueprints of public building such as apartment buildings. You could take something like that to a colllege physics professor and he will be able to tell you EXACTLY what you need to do, there has to be a way to figure out what that floor can support and how its built.

i meant distributing, my phone was ringing so i typoed :/

If i did have a stand that had like.. say.. 4 specific points...i could perhaps put a piece of plywood under it to help distribute the weight? or would the floor help with that enough?

also.. possible to drill in a 50 gallon for enabling myself to have a sump?

[Jeremy0322]

Plywood may not do what you are looking for though. A better idea may be taking like a 2X4 or something like that and connecting the legs on the bottoms so that you have a sturdy piece of wood that can take the weight. It may also not be a bad idea to have 6 legs instead of 4, that way you are sure to be separating the weight out nicely. But you have the right idea, you just need to make sure its separated and not on focal points, because you have a better chance of giving your second floor neighbors a wet surprise one night if you dont

[Intranick]

yeah already almost did that once :/ luckily i was in the same room and not much water got on the floor.