Fear of falling through floor! Real or Not?

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I have done some structural and mechanical engineering in my lifetime. So, I'll chime in a bit. I am not a professional engineer in this area - so take this as a footnote rather than an authoritive answer.

Engineering is about dummy proofing and designing for worst case scenario (with a safety factor that ranges from 3x to 10x). In the worst case scenario (ie you place your tank in the weakest part of your house under the worst temperature, humity...blah blah blah...worst case scenario) I would say it is not going to work over the long term. Essentially....your ceiling will sag.

You can make it safe by you placing your tank in the strongest areas of your house. These areas are near supporting walls (i.e. walls that extend down to the lower level). The best area is the corner of two support walls. These areas are easily 5x to 20x strong than your weakest areas.

So if you plan to place your tank in the middle of a fairly large room, I won't recommend it. But if you place it near a support wall, then I think it will be just fine. BTW, are you adding a big sump too? That can easily make it 3000lb in the same area.

- Victor.