Tank sizes, empty weights and full weights

[Lady Hobbs]

http://www.alysta.com/books/fishtank.htm

Made that stand sturdy!

[jeffs99dime]

wow. hobbs, you're on a roll!

[Lady Hobbs]

:41: I have been "saving myself" all this time.

[turbomkt]

Interesting find. There are some problems with some of their tables. First, water is about 8.35 lbs per gallon. The web page doesn't mention anything about substrate or stand, so I've got to think this is exclusively tank and water.

Here's an example:


Tank............Dimensions................Dry..... .Full
55 Gallon......48 1/4 x 12 3/4 x 21....78.......625

I have no reason to question the dry weight of 78lbs. However, when you multiply 55x8.35 it comes out as 459.25. Let's round it up to 460. Now add the 78lbs for the tank and you're looking at 538 lbs. That's about a 90lbs difference.

I guess it's OK if you want a ballpark estimate.


On the fish pages, here (http://www.alysta.com/books/fishtype.htm), I've never known Red tail or Rainbow sharks to be "peaceful". They should be semi-aggressive. Add to that an arbitrary naming convention that keeps "botia" and loach" separate. Don't even get me started on the common names they use.

Bottom line for me is this is a great attempt at putting something together for the beginner. If you're going to do it, do it right. I think William has done a significantly better job with his Free book vs. the $6 "shareware" book.

[Lady Hobbs]

Right Mike. They are talking water only.

[Fishguy2727]

The exact weights are not important, if the difference of ten pounds makes a difference in whether the stand or floor will hold or not, you better not use it. It depends on other things too. a Community tank with shallow substrate will weigh less than a Mbuna tank full of rock work. I have always assumed and read about 10 pounds per gallon for full setup.

[Lady Hobbs]

This chart was to give those a rough idea what water volume in their tank will weight. 200 pounds of rock in the tank will naturally increase the weight but also lower the water level.

[turbomkt]

We're not talking ten pounds. That's my point. With my example it's a 15% difference, not 15 pounds. With bigger tanks this can be significant.

Are the numbers unsafe? No. They're actually safer. I just have a hard time with putting numbers out there without explaining where they come from or at least qualifying the calculations. I'd would prefer people use generalities rather than specific numbers that are wrong. I like the idea of approximately 10 pounds per gallon of tank. It's safe and easy. So is one inch of fish per gallon, but even that one can get you in trouble.