Fear of falling through floor! Real or Not?

[tinpusher]

I have never worked in construction but I do know how to work a calculator. 180 gallons times 10 lbs per gallon equals.........holy crap! Before I buy can anyone reassure me that my main floor tank won't end up a basement swamp.

[adidas]

Originally Posted by tinpusher

I have never worked in construction but I do know how to work a calculator. 180 gallons times 10 lbs per gallon equals.........holy crap! Before I buy can anyone reassure me that my main floor tank won't end up a basement swamp.

i would definately put up a few of those supports in the basement under it. I don't think they are too expensive.

[Tarolisol]

I wouldnt worry about it at all, i bet you could put a 300 gallon tank on the second story of newer house without any cause for concern. We have a jucuzzi tub thats huge probly 200g of water on my second floor with no problems.

[mr_alberta]

Make sure the tank is perpendicular to your floor joists and you should be fine. If you are still worried, you could put the tank along an outside wall for added security.

[Doormatt]

Be worried.

Bathtubs are placed over additional support when built, so they can easily take the 400-600 pounds of weight. From what I've read, the limit for "anywhere" placement is a 55 gallon tank. Anything above that needs to be either placed against a retaining wall, or have additional support added. Personally, I'd call in a structural engineer if I was going to put a 180 gallon tank on a non-main floor.

[tinpusher]

I should have made it a poll. Right now it is 2 for be worried and 2 for not a problem. I think I will have someone look at it Doormatt.

Thanks for the advice.

[Reefmaster]

i vote "good reason for concern". depends on alot of things, dimension, spacing and span of floor joist, location of tank relative to load bearing walls, whether you have a grand piano in the same open room 15 ft away.
placing tank near an outside or load bearing wall and perpendicular to floor joist will prob reduce the concern. otherwise beef it up a bit.
shane

[Chin_Lee]

Before providing any advice, I will need more information such as:
1) age of the house,
2) spacing between floor joists (typically 12-16 inches)
3) width of floor joists (6/8/10/12 inches?)
4) placement of tank in relation to the floor joists (perpendicular or parallel)

If it helps any, my glass tank is a 160 gallon with approx 200lbs of live rock. Additional total weight should be around 1800-2000 lbs. My tank is placed in parallel with the joist (not the best) and the joist span between the two supporting walls is only about 12 feet. So it sits on three joists that are 12 inch wide and spaced 12 inches apart and at least one of them is a doubled joist. No problems so far.
To add to my assurance, I have had approximately 30-40 adults (additional minimum of 3000-4000 lbs) in the room around the tank for an entire afternoon and nothing happened.

[adidas]

Originally Posted by Reefmaster

i vote "good reason for concern". depends on alot of things, dimension, spacing and span of floor joist, location of tank relative to load bearing walls, whether you have a grand piano in the same open room 15 ft away.
placing tank near an outside or load bearing wall and perpendicular to floor joist will prob reduce the concern. otherwise beef it up a bit.
shane

it will probably be ok on an outside wall, but I personally would put the extra supports in for piece of mind.

[Abbyreefer]

As long as you are going perpendicular as newguy here mentioned you should be fine if your still concerned then go into your basement and if you have access put up a few hanging brackets would only cost you a few bux for some extra piece of mind