large tank on main floor ? anyone help

[Delphinus]

I'm not sure so don't take my word on this. If you run it perpendicular to the joists and near an outside wall you might be OK but you should probably consult a building engineer of some sort to be sure.

I knew a guy who put his 90g on the main floor and although it's perpendicular to the joists, there was a disturbing amount of flex in the floor when someone would walk by the tank. Think he ended up installing a telepost underneath the tank.

So if that's an option I would look into that.

I know in my own case, I don't have a tank on the main floor, but I am building an inwall tank in the basement where the canopy is suspended from the ceiling. I have a 1/2" gap above the tank to the canopy (it will eventually be covered by the finishing carpentry, but structurally, it is 1/2" above the tank). I had to reinforce the floor joists over the tank (took a 2x10 and glued and bolted it to the floor joist running over the front of the tank) because if someone walked over the "magic spot" in the living room, my canopy would bounce down that whole 1/2" and contact the tank.

Slightly different situation to yours but I bring it up because it illustrates how much flex there can be in a floor. 130 gallons is a lot heavier than the average person.

So again you might be OK if near an outside wall but if it were me I'd still feel better if I could somehow install a telepost underneath. I know that's probably not an ideal option for you so you might still want to consult with a structural engineer before going forward.

[newreefer_59]

Mine is about a foot off a main beam in the basement and I placed a 3/4" sheet of plywood under the tank to better distribute the weight. Has been a year and not a peep in terms of amy problems.

[doch]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

if someone walked over the "magic spot" in the living room, my canopy would bounce down that whole 1/2" and contact the tank.

You also have to consider that in this case you potentially have 200lbs spread over the weight of one foot giving you aprox 5.5 PSI on 'the magic spot' presumably one floor joist. That's also not accounting for the extra momentum of this persons weight being transfered down. With the tank you would have (aprox) 1600lbs spread over 1728 square inches and at least 3 floor joists... this being about 0.95 PSI. This is a resting weight... no bounce or momentum involved. You'll likely still get some flex, but not the same as a person bouncing along the floor. I personally would not hesitate to put that size of tank in my house, but as everyone has suggested, double check with somebody who knows. Even a good LFS will be able to answer this question properly.

[brizzo]

Originally Posted by doch

This is a resting weight... no bounce or momentum involved. You'll likely still get some flex, but not the same as a person bouncing along the floor.

The terminology is live load vs dead load, if you weren't sure

But you are correct, the difference between load types is exponential.

[Coleus]

I have 155 main + 33 sum on my main floor. It is perpendicular to the joists and near the outside wall. I did not see any problems for couple months but then i got a contractor to do Joist Sistering to be safe. I probably going to build a support beam underneath once i figure out what i want to do with my basement. Be safe than sorry :-)

130 gallons is a lot heavier than the average person.
I beg to differ on this statement 130g tank weighs about 1300 pounds when not in motion when you walk by it it goes into motion. As far as being OK to have on main floor I would only put it where a bath tub would be or in a alcove as those areas are made to hold extra weight also the main supporting wall that runs the length of the house is mad to support extra weight. if you have the tank perpendicular to the floor joists they will hold more weights you are distributing the weight over more floor joists a 6 foot tank is over at least 4 floor joists. I would phone a engineering firm and ask to talk to someone about the situation you have. now if you can have the tank perpendicular to the joist and on top of where a wall is down stairs it would be OK then I would think.Or put it where the utility room is and have telescoping posts put in below the tank that should be goodI would think, but I am not a structural engineer.

Bill