Floor supporting tank weight?

I am moving in a few months into an older home with wood floors and a full basement. I will be renting and not have access to the basement and unable to make any structural support changes. I have a 55 g tank on a metal frame with 4 legs. Do I need to worry about the floor supporting my tank? What can I do to make sure it is safe? Would I be better off with a wood stand that touches the floor on all sides?

 

Good morning,

I cannot say for certain if the floor will hold the tank or not but having the stand to completely surround the tank with floor support should truly help. The surround stand, as I like to call them, is said to distribute the weight of the aquarium more evenly.

how large an aquarium can my floor support

Links of interest above.

Ken

 

55 gallon tanks weigh around 600 pounds at most with water, substrate and all the bells and whistles. They don't present problems for structrally sound flooring. If you want to be on the safe side, put the tank against an outside wall or the internal walls surrounding the steps.

 

I don't think you'll have a problem. I have an older house that just has a crawl space and no basement. I have a 55 and right next to that a 10 then right next to that a 20. If you are worried that all the weight is going to be concentrated on the 4 metal legs you could always put a piece of plywood under the stand to help distribute the weight.

 

I personally don't think the weight will be a problem if the home is structurally sound. If you don't know about these things, ask a contractor to come and take a look.

If your still worried, another idea would be to acquire two lengths of angle iron that span lengthwise and put them under the front and back legs (example: if tank is 48" get angle iron 52" long and set the tank legs on the inside flat side of steel). This will distribute the weight across more than one floor joist. That way you don't have to buy or build a new stand.

 

I have a 65g and a 10 gallon on wood cabinets on the second story but our floor is made of concrete. It would be safer to use a stand that is more evenly distributed across the floor than to have a stand with 4 legs that put pressure on certain parts of the floor

 

I was a carpenter for many years and a 55 gallon tank shouldn't be any kind of issue. Even in an old house you won't have a problem with the floor. The issue i'm guessing you WILL have is trying to find a level spot to put in an old house that has settled. This is very important and will be much easier with a stand that makes contact with the floor all around. Will make shimming the tank level easier it also spreads out the weight of the tank considerably. I have the old house issue as well and had to shI'm my tank level the only flat spot I could find on an interior wall didn't even leave the bubble in the lines
good luck but don't worry about weight

DFNH

 

I have to respectfully disagree a little with the above post. Four legs is much easier to shI'm when you have an floor that is not level. All you have to do is shI'm (at most) 3 legs.

The main thing you need to worry about with a four legged stand over a all around stand (assuming the floor can carry the weight) is a leg punching thru the floor. Think of a woman in a stiletto heel steeping on your foot vs someone with a flat bottomed shoe. But if worried about punching thru, putting some squares of plywood under the legs to create a larger foot print (thing changing shoes) would help dissapate the load.

 

Thanks. I plan on using an outside wall and can hopoefukky face it across several floor joints if I can get that info. My main concern I'd the 4 legs. Hopefully can Get a wooden stand but if not I will out a plywood sheet underneath

 

does anyone know the max weight a floor can hold anyway?

 

Depends on a lot of things... more info?

 

I have to respectfully disagree a little with the above post. Four legs is much easier to shI'm when you have an floor that is not level. All you have to do is shI'm (at most) 3 legs.

The main thing you need to worry about with a four legged stand over a all around stand (assuming the floor can carry the weight) is a leg punching thru the floor. Think of a woman in a stiletto heel steeping on your foot vs someone with a flat bottomed shoe. But if worried about punching thru, putting some squares of plywood under the legs to create a larger foot print (thing changing shoes) would help dissapate the load.

that would really ruin my day...

 

If you are that worried about the floors the best place to put the tank would be in a corner of the house that way it is supported by 2 concrete walls going to ground beneath the basement but in all honesty it should be okay.

 

I have to respectfully disagree a little with the above post. Four legs is much easier to shI'm when you have an floor that is not level. All you have to do is shI'm (at most) 3 legs.

The main thing you need to worry about with a four legged stand over a all around stand (assuming the floor can carry the weight) is a leg punching thru the floor. Think of a woman in a stiletto heel steeping on your foot vs someone with a flat bottomed shoe. But if worried about punching thru, putting some squares of plywood under the legs to create a larger foot print (thing changing shoes) would help dissapate the load.

To add to Jdhef's post, I would do an inspection of the subflooring before you set anything up. You never know if there was ever any water intrusion somewhere that can cause the floor to fail. The inspection is simple, look for cracked support beams, discoloration, on the spot repairs, signs of degradation, etc... Better safe than sorry.

 

I have to respectfully disagree a little with the above post. Four legs is much easier to shI'm when you have an floor that is not level. All you have to do is shI'm (at most) 3 legs.

The main thing you need to worry about with a four legged stand over a all around stand (assuming the floor can carry the weight) is a leg punching thru the floor. Think of a woman in a stiletto heel steeping on your foot vs someone with a flat bottomed shoe. But if worried about punching thru, putting some squares of plywood under the legs to create a larger foot print (thing changing shoes) would help dissapate the load.

OK so question about this. If the tank were able too punch through the floor what would keep it from punching through the plywood?

 

Why don't you just get a non metal stand, like a wood one, or composite

 

OK so question about this. If the tank were able too punch through the floor what would keep it from punching through the plywood?

The extra thickness would help. Much like thin ice would be easier to punch thru than thick ice.

 

Here is a link from another Web site that I belong too. The person who wrote it is a ,Structural Engineer. He give great detail about floors being able to support an aquarium.

 

I've been told that if the floor joists are at least 2×10 and are 16" centers and you have the joists running perpendicular to the tank and also using an outside wall which is on the foundation you should be able to support a 125g without additional bracing underneath the floor.

 

good article vince. made my heard hurt trying to read it.....but in the end, I think it helped me too!

 

Yes thanks. I did not fully understand everything but it was very informative and helpful.

 

If you read the conclusion at the bottom of the page he pretty much sums it up.