Do I have to reinforce the floor?

[Trueflo]

I am moving my 90 gallon (36x24x24) with a 20 gallon sump upstairs. I am wondering if I have to reinforce the floor. The house was built in 1995. The stand has a board mounted on the bottom of it to distribute the weight more evenly

 

[smokin'reefer]

Imo after researching this before setting up my tank, you should be good. 1995 building standards are pretty high. My house was built in the 50's and I decided to reinforce jic. The 100 gallon mark is usually when you should start being concerned. If your foitprint is 2'X 5' your load is only around 100lbs per square foot. 100 gal X 8lbs per gallon = 800lbs + equipment rounds to 1000lbs. Just an estimate. Me and some of my "healthy" friends sitting on couch watching football are considerably more than that. But, we are not putting load on floor 24/7 365 days a year. I've read of peoples tanks leaning over time so I opted to reinforce as it wasn't hard on first floor. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Trueflo]

Thank you! Any idea if putting a sheet of pink styrofoam under the base would help distribute weight evenly and help keep the tank level? I have heard of people doing that

 

[Brew12]

Thank you! Any idea if putting a sheet of pink styrofoam under the base would help distribute weight evenly and help keep the tank level? I have heard of people doing that

I'm not sure that is necessary. If your floor starts warping the styrofoam won't do anything to help. That is typically recommended between a rimless aquarium and the stand, not under the stand. One thing I would check is to make sure the tank is up against a wall, and that the wall beneath is it load bearing. The further away from a load bearing wall, the more likely you are to have a problem.

 

[p7willm]

Also give some thought to the way the floor is built. It has beams running in one direction 16" on center and if you place a 24" wide tank parallel to them it could be over only one beam. Move the tank a little and it will be over 2. Turn the tank 90 degrees and it will be over a couple. As noted above beams move a lot less next to where they are attached as opposed to the middle of the span.

 

[skim]

Also give some thought to the way the floor is built. It has beams running in one direction 16" on center and if you place a 24" wide tank parallel to them it could be over only one beam. Move the tank a little and it will be over 2. Turn the tank 90 degrees and it will be over a couple. As noted above beams move a lot less next to where they are attached as opposed to the middle of the span.

I was thinking the same thing. You want to put your tank across the beams in the floor and not between them. You will know because when you move around when tank is between you will see it rock back and forth and if it is over the beams you will just see the water jiggle around. I had to move my 110 when I lived with my Girlfriend at the time and its not very comforting when you see a 110 gal rocking back and forth.