sprewel1612

I put a 90 gallon tank up against a load bearing wall on my second floor. The floor is hardwood and the tank is taking up as many joists as possible. Its been ok for a couple of months but I'm still a little worried that I might hear it crashing down to the first floor any minute. The house is about 80 years old, and from what I heard, (relatively) older houses can generally take more weight. Moving it down to the first floor is not a possibility so its either this floor or no tank. What do you think?

(I accidentally posted this question in the "how do i" section. I'm sorry for the repeated posts, I'm new on this site.)

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm sorry again about the multiple posting Mike, thanks for erasing the extras for me

Hypnox

Aquariums up to 55 gallons can be placed almost anywhere without much worry at all. Many tanks larger than 55 gallons and no more than 125 gallons will be okay, if they are placed in a good structural location and your floor framing is free from significant defects. For example, a 125 gallon tank, on a wooden stand, placed perpendicular to the joists up against a bearing wall, will often be okay without any additional structural support. If your tank is over 125 gallons, then it is likely that you should consider adding supports under your wood framed floor. Please realize that these are generalities that may or may not apply to your particular situation.

Source:

http://www.african-cichlid.com/Structure.htm

Like is stated in the article multiple times though, there are many many other factors that can raise or lower this estimate. From joist size and spacing, to support wall stud size and spacing. Other factors being possibilities of dry or wet rot in the wood. Structural damage to the wood in other ways like cutting the joists in any way shape or form. As well as many other possible factors.

Mike

I was going to post the same link as Hypnox.

I noticed that you posted this question in three different places. Please only post a topic one time in the most appropriate section. I deleted the other two.



Thanks,
Mike

Hypnox

Great minds google alike?

I was thinking of typing out the answer but found someone had done all the hard work for me already.

Mike

Haha. I know, that article is huuuuge! Hopefully sprewel will get an answer from it.

Allie

We have had a 100g tall and our 120g in our living room on the second floor. I think the building was built in the late 40s/50s. No problems as of the past 2 yrs. *Knocks wood very quickly*

sirdarksol

Is the tank running along one or two floor joists, or is it running across a bunch of them?
As long as it's running across a bunch of them (perpendicular to the joists), you should be okay, especially if it's against a load-bearing wall. This spreads the weight across a large number of support posts.
I have a 90g against a wall running perpendicular to the joists and have not had any problems with it.

Jess

Guys that was a great article. My house is 155 years old. And of course I want a bigger tank. I can't wait to check out the floor joists to see what we have. (rubbing my hands together)

Beanz1927

Lucky i found this post. I was told by someone that a 200L (52.8G) tank would go through my floor. Obviously they were wrong and now i can get me some clown loaches.