Floor failures

[RtomKinMad]

I was just thinking about putting down tile floors in the room containing my tank but I’m concerned about the weight of the tank cracking the tile. Has anyone experienced this? It’s a 200 gallon rectangular tank plus another 30 gallons of sump underneath.

We have tile floors over basement under all three of our tanks, 93 cube, 6’ 300 gal and 8’ 300 gal. No problems with tile floors but had to make sure the floors are level first.

 

[infinite0180]

Hey guys, none of this really applies to small tanks right? I have a tank totalling 25 gal in my upstairs apartment living room. Sometimes i worry about the floor sagging and the tank cracking. But in reality its probably only 350-400 pounds right? I mean what kind of flooring cant handle that?

 

[RtomKinMad]

Hey guys, none of this really applies to small tanks right? I have a tank totalling 25 gal in my upstairs apartment living room. Sometimes i worry about the floor sagging and the tank cracking. But in reality its probably only 350-400 pounds right? I mean what kind of flooring cant handle that?

I would think you should be fine. I wouldn’t worry about 25 gal. 100gal I wouldn’t do but that’s just my opinion I’m not an engineer or builder.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Green Bay. They said if floor was reinforced would be fine. We used 6 jacks under the crawl space. And six in the basement under the 8’ tank. Unfortunately had to place tanks infornt on windows so they are on exterior walls. Back of tanks covered to protect from the light. Have had the tank over crawl space for 2 yrs. no problems so far 300gal reef 6’, marineland tank and is a family room addition, sump is in the basement. The 8’ 300gal is much heavier sapphire glass. Sump in the basement too. We had 180 in the live room over the basement with no problem but I wasn’t about to do the 300! I was going to ask your opinion before we started but didn’t want to bother you so I called an engineer from the phone book. We also have tile floors which add to the weight on the beams. What size tank are you upgrading from your 360?

660g was delayed but now rescheduled

 

[RtomKinMad]

660g was delayed but now rescheduled

That’s going to be amazing! Can’t wait to see it! The tangs will
Lov it!

 

[Scooter90254]

I imagine the tank size would have something to say about that!

Good point. I'm talking for your average 1oo gallon or less tank.

If you're putting a giant tank in then clearly you will need to have it inspected. If your putting in a 300 gallon tank your list of concerns about your house should be much longer then the just the floor.

 

[ca1ore]

In my case, the tank, stand and contents weigh about 4,000 pounds. Tank sits on a first floor (10" joists), but there are jack posts between the floor and basement slab on all four corners. I would not keep a large tank without full support all the way down to slab. FWIW, I agree that spectacular floor collapse is highly unlikely, except in extreme circumstances. What is much more likely, and the thing to watch out for, is gradual floor deflection that puts unnecessary strain on the tank resulting in premature failure.

 

[Phycodurus]

(O__o)' *gulp*

... kissing my single-story slab-foundation SFR living room floor. ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[Phycodurus]

(O__o)' *gulp*

... kissing my single-story slab-foundation SFR living room floor. ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[Phycodurus]

(sorry, duplicated my post by mistake)

 

[joethenathan]

I have pictures of one that "failed" around somehere (not my house, thankfully), but it was just a 7/8 empty 100 gallon tank. The damage was mainly structural: unbeknownst to the owner, a joist started cracking under the tank and the owner noticed that the waterline was different in the tank. The 2-3 mm difference wasn't enough to cause a concern, and he only noticed it when he was doing water changes and it got near the top rim. A few months later the corner seam opposite from the corner of the room that the tank was housed in gave way from the torquing and the owner came home to the last of the 75 gallons of water that ended up on the floor dripping out through the seam.

At failure, it had to be more than 2-3mm off, right? That seems like a crazy tolerance. If it really was that exacting, there’d be a TON more tank failures, right? We’d be hearing about them all the time. Sounds like maybe the tilt got worse over time and went unnoticed?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Proper method:

Don't think about it:

Hmmm:

 

[vetteguy53081]

Proper method:

Don't think about it:

Hmmm:

 

[SeaJay]

According to the engineer I spoke to, I’m exceeding the live load capacity of my flooring just by standing in one spot. Most of my furniture exceeds it, definitely my jacuzzi tub filled with water, etc. Floors are a lot stronger than we give them credit for in these threads. It doesn’t take much to reinforce a floor to resist sagging over time under the weight of our tanks. That said, I went overkill on my floor reinforcement...

 

[Buckeye Hydro Verified Sponsor]

We're currently having a structural analysis done re placing a 2000 and a 500 gallon tank right next to each other. The weight is immense.

 

[homer1475]

And I did it this way.

The first T(the one next to the black pipe) is sistered using timerlock screws onto the main bean in my floor(back of stand sits on that beam, but I wanted additional support). The second T I added as the front of the tank. I dig down 7 feet(I live in upstate NY so I had to go below the frost line), buried a few cinder blocks(with the holes facing up for proper structural support), then placed the large block(I was told a 6x6 would fit, but apparently it doesn't), then a 6x6 post, and the 6x6 beam.

Had a structural engineer come in and just double check me, I have enough support for a much larger tank if and when I want to. Also told me that having the 6x6 on the block, was fine the way it is.

 

[PhreeByrd]

I agree with vetteguy's 'proper method'. The screw jacks are inexpensive, adjustable and are perfectly suitable for use in a crawl space or basement. Spanning all joists bearing the load plus a couple of extra at the ends with a 4x4 or 4x6 beam works fine. There is no need or reason to fasten anything to your floor structure, and in most cases, it would not be desirable to do so.

 

[vetteguy53081]

We're currently having a structural analysis done re placing a 2000 and a 500 gallon tank right next to each other. The weight is immense.

As many readers are focusing on this subject, please share approximate cost with readers so they have an idea of expected cost for structure analysis

 

[PhreeByrd]

As many readers are focusing on this subject, pleasy share approximate cost with readers so they have an idea of expected cost for structure analysis

I'd be interested in this, too. My company does this kind of thing almost every day, so I know what we charge for this ($200-300 typical, depending mostly upon how the inspection results are presented).

 

[ZsWithTheFishes]

At failure, it had to be more than 2-3mm off, right? That seems like a crazy tolerance. If it really was that exacting, there’d be a TON more tank failures, right? We’d be hearing about them all the time. Sounds like maybe the tilt got worse over time and went unnoticed?

It's possible. He estimated the two to three mm on a water change he did "about a month ago," which did not make me confident in his water change schedule or measuring ability

The off-level was definitely not noticeable when I saw it (with only a bit of the water left).

 

[Sleepydoc]

Hey guys, none of this really applies to small tanks right? I have a tank totalling 25 gal in my upstairs apartment living room. Sometimes i worry about the floor sagging and the tank cracking. But in reality its probably only 350-400 pounds right? I mean what kind of flooring cant handle that?

You're talking about ~400 lbs weight; you should be fine. On top of that, the tank is small enough that even if the floor sags a bit, the stand should be rigid enough to prevent the tank from being stressed.

In my case, the tank, stand and contents weigh about 4,000 pounds. Tank sits on a first floor (10" joists), but there are jack posts between the floor and basement slab on all four corners. I would not keep a large tank without full support all the way down to slab. FWIW, I agree that spectacular floor collapse is highly unlikely, except in extreme circumstances. What is much more likely, and the thing to watch out for, is gradual floor deflection that puts unnecessary strain on the tank resulting in premature failure.

This is going to be far more common than a floor collapse. Floor deflection, either static or dynamic will stress the tank joints and cause leaking rather than the entire thing crashing through the floor.

According to the engineer I spoke to, I’m exceeding the live load capacity of my flooring just by standing in one spot. Most of my furniture exceeds it, definitely my jacuzzi tub filled with water, etc. Floors are a lot stronger than we give them credit for in these threads. It doesn’t take much to reinforce a floor to resist sagging over time under the weight of our tanks. That said, I went overkill on my floor reinforcement...

The support requirements for a tank are very different from those of furniture. Your furniture doesn't care if it bounces a bit but your tank surely does. best case you end up with some water sloshing. worst case the seams fail.

 

[infinite0180]

You're talking about ~400 lbs weight; you should be fine. On top of that, the tank is small enough that even if the floor sags a bit, the stand should be rigid enough to prevent the tank from being stressed.



This is going to be far more common than a floor collapse. Floor deflection, either static or dynamic will stress the tank joints and cause leaking rather than the entire thing crashing through the floor.



The support requirements for a tank are very different from those of furniture. Your furniture doesn't care if it bounces a bit but your tank surely does. best case you end up with some water sloshing. worst case the seams fail.

Thanks for the reassurance!