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Can my floor hold a 190 gallon tank?


Manny Tavan

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5 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

You ABSOLUTELY do NOT have to reinforce those floor joists.   Total and complete waste of time and money.  

You have basically no span when the load is so close to the main beams.   That, plus your load is perpendicular to your joists.   The span limit for 2x8 beams on 16"OC and 60lb/sqft live load is 11'.  You have like 2'. 

You CAN do anything you want, just know that it is not necessary at all. 

 

 

You are always so wishy-washy with your takes man 😃

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it is just frustrating thats all. If you are not sure on something, then maybe not offer up advice. I am not a structural engineer but I do know how to read load deflection tables.

you actually could park a car over that beam. it is a nicely done foundation actually, those anti-rack braces are really nice.

if his aquarium crashes through the floor i will lend him my shop vac :)

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I have a similar setup.  My 400 gallons or so are right on a major beam, perpendicular to the joists, above the garage.

Being the garage, I cannot just drop a beam and some posts without creating a bit of a hassle for parking cars.  Also the garage door opener is in the way, etc etc...

So... We set a ladder and some shims under the beam to test deflection.  The shims were adjusted to be just barely loose, the tiniest amount.

Then we filled the tank.  Not even a 64/th of an inch of deflection, just 0.  The beam did not move.  So we called that good.  

Felt responsible to at least try and measure it.  Seems to have done ok all these years.

However, given how easy it would be in this situation to add a beam and a couple of posts, I would definitely go that route for peace of mind and just a better experience when walking on the floor above.  A loaded of floor gets kind of 'springy' and its not the best feeling when someone goes running or heavy footed walking by.

 

 

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11 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

i just went to the dump so i know my tundra (with me in it) is equal to a 600 gallon tank with a 150 gallon sump.

lets do this right!!!

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I got a second shop vac I can lend!!! Lol I put my 400 cube same way you did zero issues at all. Do it!!! 

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IF you are going to go over there then get a hold of me, it is near my house but I have never found the time to get over there during business hours now that I have one of those real job things.  I have been wanting to order a biggish sheet of HPDE (cutting board plastic) for my fragging and testing station.  

 

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3 hours ago, Manny Tavan said:

What’s better. Regular abs or starboard?

Starboard is just a name brand of HPDE.  high density polyethelene.  Its like "plexiglass".   Even though the only "plexiglass" you should be using for aquarium stuff is cast acrylic ..specifically Acrylite GP.  

Don't ever just ask for "cast acrylic" you could get the super cheap imported stuff and then be suffering because it doesn't bond well.

 

 

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