Floor - To brace or not to brace??
 

the fact that the place i've chosen for my tank bugs me that its running parallel with joists with only one landing beneath. There are two solid beams beneath either end of the joist only 6 feet apart from one another, but the tank itself is only 5' long and resting over one of the beams at one end.

I'm leaning towards adding a second laminated 2x6 beam under the other side of the tank.... am i worrying too much? I've calculated the whole system weighing in at around ~1400lbs

http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/...psafe04993.jpg
http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8b5b4d40.jpg

I'd guess you'd be fine, but I'd do what your thinking, more is better in this situation. Laminated beam is a great choice where your blue line is. Not knowing what else is I that lower room but a telescoping jack pole in the centre of the laminated joist would be real easy and very solid.

thanks for reply, The joist is centered on a hallway

6' span and tank is already over a beam, would seem you're good.

not sure if you can see a model number for the beam. If you google it and go to the company website they show everything about it. how much of a load you can have on it.

Are we looking at multiple floors here ?
I can't tell as it looks like an elevator shaft :wink:

Are pictures 1 and 2 basically the same location ?

If so, what's the measurement from the wall to the inside edge of the left/right beam ?
I ask as it looks a bit close to the wall to support any deflection

If it were me, I'd add another full beam left/right directly under the front of the tank, and have it supported on new posts
Make sense ?

If the pics are showing 3 floors, then you'll need posts going all the way to the first floor to support a new beam for the front of the tank

I have never liked seeing my tank do a 'wave' because I have company over

I think your fine

I'll agree from a structural standpoint, but I still see deflection happening

I'd be concerned about the tank rocking everytime someone walks by

Without extra joist supports, you're only relying on the flooring/plywood for the front half of the tank
And from what I see, it will crack the nice trim you have from the flooring to the walls

I had a 6 foot 125g on 12 foot 2x10 beams, and against a 2x6 load-bearing wall where normally there would only be a 2x4 wall
The tank was estimated @ around 1500Lbs

An Engineer told me to not have a house party as it would not necessarily fail, but would cause the tank to start rocking and spill over or even tip over

I could stand in the middle of my Living Room and bounce my feet to make the tank rock

Put another joist in and be done with it :lol:

Just put the tank there and don't worry about it.

You've got more then enough structure there to hold everything you'd plan on putting there. Based on the picture the TGI there in your picture are only 6ft long to begin with and are resting each end on beams and there doesn't appear to be any load being transferred down from above. So you've got a load bearing wall, 2 TGI that both are being transfered onto load points through the beams that will be taking the weight. Sure the load bearing wall and the 2nd TGI that aren't directly under the tank but they will still be transferring weight as well due to the plywood and flooring further spreading the load out.

People build 2x4 stands to support their tank with less structure then what you'll have your tanks stand transferring down onto.

OK, I'll ammend my previous suggestion and go with this ;

Put the tank in the location, fill it, bounce around the room and see if the tank rocks or stays put

BTW, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that it will rock the tank when you bounce on the floor, or it will at least eventually crack the seals on the trim to the floor

Good luck with whatever you decide !