10 gallon aquariums are pretty small as far as aquarium sizes go. Don’t let that fool you, though. They can still be extremely heavy when they’re full.
When it is empty, a 10 gallon aquarium will weigh around 11 pounds. A 10 gallon tank that is full will weigh approximately 111 pounds – that is when it is full of water, gravel, sand, plants, wood, and décor.
A 10 gallon tank only holds around 8 gallons of water when full. The rest of the room in the tank is used by the gravel, fish, and accessories.
How Much Does a 10 Gallon Tank Weigh When Empty?
An empty 10 gallon tank weighs around 11 pounds, or 4.98kg. This weight is relatively easy to carry and move around to find the ideal place to put your tank, but you should be aware of how much the tank will weigh when it is full.
Ensure your tank is placed on a sturdy surface or aquarium stand. A lot of the modern desks and tables you buy are only designed to hold around 50 lbs, so you want to make sure that the table you have set aside can hold the weight.
(Or just use a proper aquarium stand.)
How Much Does a 10 Gallon Tank Weigh When Full?
A 10 gallon tank will weigh approximately 111 pounds, or 50.34kg, when it is full. This is the weight of material this sized tank can hold, and will be made up of water, fish, plants, wood, décor, and gravel or sand.
Although a 10 gallon tank can hold around 111 pounds of material, it only holds about 8 gallons of water. This is because the fish, plants, and other items take up some of the tank space.
Can You Put a 10 Gallon Aquarium on the Second Floor?
A 10 gallon tank is considered to be a small aquarium size. A 10 gallon tank can safely be placed on the second or third floor of a building. It is not heavy enough to fall through or damage the floor.
To put this into perspective, the average mattress weighs between 50 and 150 lbs. (And then a person goes on top of it.) Often, it’s just supported by a few tiny feet or casters, and people put them upstairs all the time.
It is mostly important to ensure that the structure it is placed on can hold that amount of weight safely and securely. This will keep your fish safe and protect your furniture and home.
Can You Move a 10 Gallon Aquarium That’s Full?
You may have your tank set up and decide that you want, or need, to move it to a different room or floor of your home. You can move your tank with some water still in, but moving it while completely full is not recommended. 111 pounds is a heavy amount to move and puts it at risk of damage.
Moving the tank while full of water increases the risk of dropping the tank, or the water putting pressure on the glass as it moves and damaging the seals. The rocks and features inside the tank can shift in the water and scratch the glass or injure the fish.
How Do You Move a 10 Gallon Aquarium?
The important thing to note is that fish can become very stressed during a move or water change, so the less time they spend out of their environment the better.
You can completely drain the tank to move it, draining the water into clean buckets and placing your fish in there. Once moved, add the water back into the tank first from the buckets. Reacclimate your fish to the water conditions if the temperature has changed during the move, by adding the same temperature water to the bucket.
Or you can remove around 2/3 of the water and keep the fish in the tank during the move. Ensure that you move quickly and carefully and that the fish are not overcrowded and have enough oxygen during this time.
Drain the water into buckets before the move and once the tank is set up in its new location add the water back into the tank. (Or use this as an opportunity for a water change and replace it with fresh water.)
Can You Move a 10 Gallon Tank to a Different House?
You can move your 10 gallon tank to another home and take your fish with you, but this is a more difficult and involved process than moving a tank to a different room in the house. When moving a tank to a different location it must be completely emptied of water and other material.
Place the fish into 5 gallon transportation buckets, or fish bags, using water from the tank. Ensure that they have oxygen in their container. If necessary, you can use oxygen tablets to make sure their water is aerated until they make it to their new home.
Take everything out of the tank – rocks, plants, ornaments, accessories, filters, pumps – and dry and wrap them. Place gravel or sand in a separate bucket.
Alternatively, depending on how much time you have (and if you have a spare tank), you can set up the new tank at your new house, bring some filter media to fast-cycle the tank, and just bag and move the fish without the hassle.
Once the fish are gone from the old tank, breaking things down should be a much less stressful experience.
Conclusion
A 10 gallon aquarium can be a good size if you need to put it on the second floor or if you think you might need to move it later. It’s right at that sweet spot between being large enough to hold a few fish but small enough to be able to move it if necessary.
At just over 100lbs when full, it can still be pretty heavy, though, so do take care to make sure whatever you put it on can hold the weight. Consider that if the surface is large enough to lean on, it may have to hold the weight of the tank plus part of the weight of a person at some point.
