tricky_tink

I aquired a 110 gallon tank 48x24x24 that is now sitting on the second floor of my northeast home built in the early 60's.

Right now I have it in my bedroom against the wall shared with my staircase and parellel to the floor joist but because it's against the staircase wall it has 2 floor joists next to eachother than one more 16" out so one 3 total but not a load bearing wall. Should I move it to the load bearing wall in that room so that it is perpendicular to the floor joist and sitting on 4 as opposed to 3 floor joist they are 2x12 joist in that room?

I was told by a structural engiineer the only safe place for a tank this size was my basement? I dont want to put it in there.

My other option is another load bearing wall between my living and dinning room on the main floor which I know has a floor beam under it but still runs parellel to the floor joist however in that spot their it would only be sitting on 1 joist a 2x10 and one floor beam (pole that holds the floor from basement). Hope this all made sense.

Need some input cause I would like to fill it sometime this year!

Ideally I would like it to remain in my bedroom upstairs. So who else has them upstairs? how big? where did you put them?

Thanks

Coryd55

Well water weighs roughly 8.3 pounds per gallon. The tank prolly weighs about 10-20 pounds. The stand probably weighs about 20-40 pounds. So think about putting almost 1000 pounds(973) on your second story floor. Its very risky. I don't know of anyone who has one on a second floor. Most just keep them in their basements I believe.

Hope that helps

Cory

Shaina

This article might help you: Residential Wood Framed Floors and Aquarium Weights

fshkpr

well your tank is roughly 9 square foot, so if you divide 1200 pound by 9 you get roughly 133 pounds per square foot. thats less than the average human standing in one spot. so i dont think ytou have to worry much. my 125 is up stairs too and i have never had any problems

COBettaCouple

A tank that size is going to weigh close to 1100 lbs.. over half a ton. I think I'd be hesitant unless I was sure of the floor structure being able to distribute the weight and carry the impact to load bearing areas.

FL CommunityFans

What was said there .

We tried to do this when I was a child and nearly brought the room caving in on the dining area downstairs. It got moved to the den, needless to say. One house may be able to hold what another can't.

lalynya

I guess mine technically is on the third floor. I live in an aprtment..I have a 55 gal..Havent had any problems as of yet

FL CommunityFans

From all the reading I've been doing, 50+/- gallon tanks are generally safe anywhere. His tank is 100gal+ and this definitely changes things as far as what is safe and not safe.

That article Shaina listed is very well done and explains a lot.

lalynya

I thought it was because the floors in the apartment are well built...I guess you learn something new everyday..lol

Shaina

If you read the article I cited, comparing a person standing in place to something like a large, heavy piece of furniture doesn't really work: they are different types of load.

If you are sure your floor is very sound and is well-built, can place the tank against a load-bearing wall perpendicular to the floor joists, and are willing to hope that there aren't any majors structural flaws in the construction material used in the floor, then you should be fine, according to my construction-y uncle, my civil engineering friends, and the article I cited. Then again, how confident are you?

Sounds like a beautiful tank though!

About the only safe place being the basement: maybe that's the only place he could guarantee that it would be safe without seeing the structural layout of your place, but there are many people who keep large tanks without needing to put them in their basement...where's the fun in having it down there?

FL CommunityFans

They may be well built, and you very well maay be able to get away with putting a 100g tank up there! Only to do so, you would have to research the construction of the apartment and find the strongest part of the floor, which usually is the smallest room which usually ends up being the kitchen! lol. As the fellow in that article stated, you likely wouldn't want your tank in the kitchen taking up 100+gallon worth of space, not to mention fumes and residues!

Even then, it can take upwards of 10 years to do damage to the floor, so while you may not see damage in the first year, over time it would become noticeable.

I don't think it'd be like the movies where you see the shower/bath/fridge crashing through the floor to the rooms below, but I'm sure it's just as possible! lol

It'd be a sight to see something of that sort put on youtube...fishless at least.

tricky_tink

The Tank weighs 240lbs, Stand 50lbs, Water 756, Substrate 100lbs = 1146lbs to be precise

paswed

I have a 150 gallon saltwater tank with a stand I built, it is in my living room up against a wall. I have never had any problem with it so far before I had the 150 gallon I had a 55 gallon there

tricky_tink

If your living room was on the second floor it would be more comparable. If you have a basement and your right up against a load bearing wall and have a basment block wall there too. Apartments don't even count. They are built totally diffrent than single family homes.

I'm more looking for someone who has a large tank on their second story, hardwood floor home in preferably northeast location. I can't be the only one

Rbacchiega

My parents fish tanks (which I look after) are all on the top level. They have a 2.5 level split or something stupid like that. Either way, the 55 gallon and the 90 gallon are both on the top floors on load bearing walls. (both outside walls) and are at right angles to the floor beams. My dad is the manager of a major housing company here in Calgary and looked into everything before we even thought of moving the tanks

paswed

I live in Kentucky and we have a two story house mine is on the second floor in the living which has all bare(No carpet) hardwood floors. It is straight against the wall. The only thing I did after I built my stand was put plastic up under the tank because I have salt water and did not want the salt to ruin my hardwood floors since we have just refinish them when I built the stand . I did not want it put it in the basement cause I wanted to enjoy it in the living room and show off the stand I built

tricky_tink

ok cool! I'm feeling better about the whole thing. My hubby wants to lay down a 6x2 piece of ply anyways to spread the weight out over more joists. We will be setting it up and filling it on Monday!

Allie

We have most of our tanks in our living room which is one the second floor. Including our 120g, we just sold at 100g tall too. Our building was built in the right year...the time when steal floor joyces ?sp? were used. I wouldn't recommend havingone on the second floor of a newer building tho.

Ntruder1400

I understand that they have a much larger footprint, but how much water does the average queen-size waterbed hold? It may just be the increased surface area to spread the load around, but waterbeds must weigh about as much as a 100 gallon tank.

Just curious

lalynya

This is just wayyy to much math for my poor brain.

SereneReyn

makes me glad i only have 1 story!

FL CommunityFans

This does not work. As stated in the guide/article listed by Shaina, all this will do will is .. well nothing. The weight isn't distributed like you would think, rather it just acts another inch of flooring, which isn't doing any good. Hopefully all the other criteria is setup properly, but in the long run, the plywood will do no good at all.

Gargoyle

After reading the article posted earlier in this thread a 55gal should be safe, Possibly a 125 gallon as well. What you are looking for is a tank that spreads the weight out as much as possible, also a stand built to distribute the load evenly. Then check the floor joists to see what direction they go and position the tank stand so it is over as many of them as possible.

If it was me I would go no bigger than a 55. Your house was built in the 60's and depending on the area where it is it should be a fairly strong house. The older the better in most cases.