Tank Weight VS. Floor Joists..

[Swine]

At what weight, weight/ft^2 (or tank size in gallons) do you start thinking about how your tank is placed in relation to structural support and load bearing walls. I understand this is a fairly broad question because the weight can be dispersed for a 120 gallon tank differently depending on the foot print.


For me this question has come up because I want to upgrade but am still renting. This means I could move each year if I wanted to. So I want to get a large tank as possible (thinking DSA 105) without really having to worry about tank placement in terms of structural integrity. Of course if you rent a old termite infested house this is going to change your results so I am thinking more in general terms. I would always try and use the joists and load-bearing walls but some times there is the perfect location in your living room for viewing purposes vs ideal situation on stamped concrete in the basement...

Thanks! :hug:

 

[Senior El Roboto]

i think in something like this its a better safe than sorry approach. think you might be pushing the limits, do a floor jack and a 4x4 to be safe. worthy invesment vs tank falling thru floor killing all livestock at 4am.

 

[CoryC]

The average floor in a wood frame structure can hold about 40lbs per square foot. This also varies greatly by the type of construction, age of the house, building materials, etc, etc, etc. I think anything more than a 125-180 on a second floor wood frame you may want to consider reinforcing the joists below, of which there are many ways to do such. But really, if you're moving every year as a renter, I'd be more concerned with the possibility of moving so frequently and what that would do to your tank. each time you've finally recovered from a move and started getting new growth, bam time to move again.

 

[Velodog2]

Something you can do to that greatly improves the capacity of the floor is to orient the tank perpindicular to the floor joists if the tank is the usual rectangle. This distributes the weight over typically at least twice as many joists as running it parallel. I had to put in a support in the basement of a recently built house when I installed a 180 gallon tank because I did not do this.

 

[adevice]

In the past I've been told worry over 200g, that being said I still reinforced the floor for my 180. House was built in the '50's and as you know, earthquakes. It would have to be a really questionable place before I even worried about the DSA 105. I'm not a contractor, engineer or architect tho. I had a 100 acrylic FOWLR that I moved into at least 6 places over 10 years, it was fine in all of them. (including the northridge earthquake)

 

[Velodog2]

Oh yeah, the reason I decided to put a support under the 180 is because once full of water when you walked up close to the tank you could see ripples across the top from the floor flexing. Clearly not good. If the tank had seemed solid and stable I probably would not have put in the extra supports.

 

[Swine]

i think in something like this its a better safe than sorry approach. think you might be pushing the limits, do a floor jack and a 4x4 to be safe. worthy invesment vs tank falling thru floor killing all livestock at 4am.

By floor jacks do you mean something like this?

The average floor in a wood frame structure can hold about 40lbs per square foot. This also varies greatly by the type of construction, age of the house, building materials, etc, etc, etc. I think anything more than a 125-180 on a second floor wood frame you may want to consider reinforcing the joists below, of which there are many ways to do such. But really, if you're moving every year as a renter, I'd be more concerned with the possibility of moving so frequently and what that would do to your tank. each time you've finally recovered from a move and started getting new growth, bam time to move again.

Cool! I was wondering about the average floor. Pretty interesting number considering I am a little more than 40lbs and can stand on my floor in a square foot just fine
I get the "why bother if you're going to move every year" but thats more of a worst case scenario, I can move each year but might not. And while it might seem tedious, I like fish tanks too much not to have one even if I was moving every 6 months (but then I wouldn't be hauling around a 105gallon tank).. I think I 105 is manageable enough although I have been looking at the new nuvo SR 80 and that looks sweet too!

Something you can do to that greatly improves the capacity of the floor is to orient the tank perpindicular to the floor joists if the tank is the usual rectangle. This distributes the weight over typically at least twice as many joists as running it parallel. I had to put in a support in the basement of a recently built house when I installed a 180 gallon tank because I did not do this.

I try and orient my tank as you have described when I can, but like I said, if there is the perfect spot for a tank I dont want to not be able to put it there because I need to re-enforce the floor. So I am trying to figure out if I had to place it parallel with the joists what kind of weight could it support. Worst case again.

In the past I've been told worry over 200g, that being said I still reinforced the floor for my 180. House was built in the '50's and as you know, earthquakes. It would have to be a really questionable place before I even worried about the DSA 105. I'm not a contractor, engineer or architect tho. I had a 100 acrylic FOWLR that I moved into at least 6 places over 10 years, it was fine in all of them. (including the northridge earthquake)

Great to hear your experience! That makes me feel more confident about the 105.

Thanks for the input everyone! Keep it coming!