siskiou Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Everyone with larger tanks: How did you figure out if your floor was strong enough to support your tank? Set it up and hope for the best? Reinforce the floor? If yes, how? Did anyone actually encounter a floor that was too weak? Our house was built in the 50s. Did they use stronger materials then in the US or cut corners whereever they could? -Susanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Normally older the better, my house is 1960 and I have a 155 gallon, 150 gallon total after removing inner mass of rock and adding refugium. times gallons by 10 to be safe, and you got about 1500 pounds spread 6 feet, there is absolutley no problems, I dont think you would have a problem with the 120 personally. water weight is about 7.5 pounds per gallon. Worst case get a few lifts from Ahbrit that hes selling, but I think for your tank thats way overkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sknoch78 Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I contacted a stuctural engineer before setting up my 240. My house was built in 65' and they used 2x10's 16" o.c. The tank was to be set against an exterior wall so that helped, but I still needed to double up my joists for additonal support. Of course mine was over a finished basement and I could not just put jacks underneath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DChemist Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 water weight is about 7.5 pounds per gallon.quote] I hate to nit-pick but freshwater is about 8.3 lbs/gal... Seawater is about 8.6 lbs/gal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 1 gallon water = 8.345404265 pound/gallon [u.S.] guess your right, last place I looked was wrong, regardless I always calc out 10 pounds per gallon to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ahbrit Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 it's quite the risk too take at least reinforce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Everyone with larger tanks: How did you figure out if your floor was strong enough to support your tank? Set it up and hope for the best? Reinforce the floor? If yes, how? Did anyone actually encounter a floor that was too weak? Our house was built in the 50s. Did they use stronger materials then in the US or cut corners whereever they could? -Susanne Need more info. Is the tank parallel or perpendicular to the joists? How far apart are the joists? Size of joists? You want to set the tank evenly over the joists. I have heard that some people set their stands on 3/4 inch plywood to even out the weight, but I am not sure if that helps much. I decided to put my 240 gallon in the garage because of the weight. 240 X 8.6 = 2064 lbs live rock = 370 lbs tank/stand = 200 lbs about 2600 lbs. That's more than a ton of weight so I thought that the concrete floor was the safest option. Most homes should be able to handle the weight of a 120, but do some research before you set it up. Tell us about the joists. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 it's quite the risk too take at least reinforce Here's the plan Keith... Just have Roy, along with me & Bob stand in the general area of where the tank will be, and if it holds, no worries. If it dosen't, you and Roy can do a patch job and reinforce the floor. rofl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nu2reef-n Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Nothing like kicking a guy when they are down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 good one John. spend a little money now to save a bunch in the future. I would reinforce where the tank is going to sit. It won't cost that much and it will make you sleep better at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 Ah, hm, you don't know my husband or the low crawlspace under our house, evidently! The poor plumber who had to crawl under there when we remodeled a few years ago was never the same again! I'll have to take a flashlight and check under the house, but am pretty confident the joist would be perpendicular. Our current 40G with 20G sump, sitting in the same spot the other tank will go, has had no problems for the 6 months it's been there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 :eek: (scary) Whose floor was that in the picture and is it from water damage, or too much weight? -Susanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 that was actually a ceiling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 they were working in the attic and crashed through the ceiling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 that was actually a ceiling. So, there wasn't a second floor with a tank that caused the damage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 Ouch! Now I finally get the "joke"! Let's see. Our family of three adds up to about 550lbs. So if we stand on the floor next to the currently set up 40G plus 20G sump and everything feels solid, we should be fine with a larger tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy-S Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I was concerned with the extra weight my tank added. So I went to HD and for about $40.00 I added a cross brace to my floor joists Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy-S Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 My tank sits above the added brace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blown65 Posted August 10, 2006 Share Posted August 10, 2006 Not a bad idea. When I did my 300 gallon on the second floor I was somewhat worried. But got to doing some measuring and it ended up being right over a wall right below. (Actually a small closet so ahve 4 walls.) I dunno if I'd want to put a large tank in the middle of a floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 10, 2006 Author Share Posted August 10, 2006 I was concerned with the extra weight my tank added. So I went to HD and for about $40.00 I added a cross brace to my floor joists I'm impressed! It's so clean, you could eat under there! Thanks for posting a picture. -Susanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Does anyone know of a reasonably priced contractor or handyman in the Eugene area who would install a support brace for the aquarium? My husband tried going into the crawl space today, but he isn't as skinny as he used to be... It's a very low crawlspace under a 55 year old house and the access hole is not very large. Nothing as nice as the one in the picture above! I called a few guys, but the job is too small for many (not worth even coming out for an estimate), or they are too large to want to attempt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Have you considered just adding the floor jacks to the existing support beams? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Yep, but we need to find someone to get under there. I took a look under the house with a flashlight to find out how far apart the floor joists are and which way they run, and as far as I can tell we don't have *any* floor joists! It's a mess under there, but even checking under the insulation as far as I could reach, there are only flat boards (the edge of those along the house is laying on 4x4s). Cant' see anything that looks like joists sticking out anywhere. It's a pier and beam foundation, and I'm starting to wonder how they did the floor in the late 40s, early 50s around here. I thought the joists would be quite obvious, but apparently not in our house. I think the inside wall I'm planning on having the 90 (or 120) sitting at is the middle support beam of the pier and beam foundation, so at least that's good. Setting up a tank sure gets me into all sorts of reseach I was never interested in before! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 But its always good to learn new things, typically the joist will be there (one type or another) and the problem is the insulation will be in between them so you won't see much if anything, my house was built in 1960 and thats how it is, new houses are the same, not sure about yours. I have crawled under 1000's of houses (literally) and all look about the same. There should be a main support in that area and getting a jack to help as a backup support is probably the easiest solution, if you are having someone make a brace it MUST be engineered so it will work properly or there is no guarantee its actually offsetting/distributing the weight when its needed. A jack on the other hand is a no brainer, you just have to make sure you jack the main support and if you get water under there in the winter, well thats a whole nother topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 The insulation is not between joists, just tacked onto those boards I mentioned. It wasn't a common practice to "hide" the joists by putting boards one the bottom of them, right? With the jacks, wouldn't you still need a board on the ground underneath, and one across the joists? And I am certain we do get water under there, and we have that horrible clay soil that swells and then dries. Great for foundations in general! Our current tanks (a 20H saltwater, a 40G saltwater, a 29G freshwater) have not caused any trouble, but we've had to shim to get them to be straight and true. I'll keep you updated on the mystery of the missing floor joists! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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