How Much Tank Can My Floor Hold?

Hey, all. I feel this is the best section for this question, but if not, please feel free to move it. After searching the internet for an answer, I decided to post on here because all results on the internet were very technical and confusing! I'm not a handy guy at all, so talking about measurements, angles, joists, etc just confuses me! I'm looking for any "rules" that may exist, assumptions that can be made, etc.

Really, I'm just trying to figure out what the largest tank is that my floor can safely hold. As mentioned above, I'm really just looking for "rules", or a safe bet. I can't afford a custom build, and I'm not trying to get a contractor involved, etc. It's just that less than a year into fish keeping, I've realized that I have much more wall room than my 55 gallon takes up. So, of course I'm thinking all about how great a 6ft tank would look as it would fill up the wall that my 4ft tank is on!

Some info that may be important for this. I have a townhouse, and the tank is on the first floor. There is a basement, and the house was built in the late 1960's.

 

I'm thinking pictures of the basement ceiling area below the tank are needed.

You mention a 6' tank. Are you thinking a 125G?

 

I agree with thrugood. Pics needed and see if you can get a hold of the house plan. Should say how much weight 'x' can hold

 

Thanks, guys! I'll see what I can do. I have a drop ceiling in my basement, so I'll have to take some panels out. To be honest, I'm not sure how to get a floor plan for the house. I am loosely considering a 125, yes, but really, for now I'd just like some idea of what my house could handle.

 

Most townhouses I have seen are/were covered under the ICC and constructed with the residential code and not the building code, also being built in the 60's can mean a lot of things. Any engineer can take a 55 gallon tank and, on paper, tell you that your whole floor can fall down.

With that said, you can make some precautions. First I would go to the town building inspectors office and ask if there are any "as-built" drawings on file for your building. You are going to want to take note of the truss layout and if you can identify a load bearing wall, great. If you can not identify a load bearing wall, ask for help.

You will want to place your tank against a load bearing wall so it's foot print spans across many trusses and not run horizontal with one. I would strongly suggest a base with a continuous foot print as well as taking a 3/4" piece of plywood and secure it to the bottom of the stand. This will help distribute the weight on the flooring system more evenly, which will distribute the weight over a larger area on the trusses.

When in doubt however, contact a professional or place it on a slab in your basement.

Good luck!

 

Wow, well I'm quickly getting overwhelmed. Trusses, load bearing walls. This is exactly the type of information I didn't want, because it's too technical.

But, it's starting to sound like my 55 gallon tank may be too much for the floor to support. So, I guess this is where I stop considering anything larger, and decide to be happy with what I have and hope my floor holds up with the 55.

 

I agree that that technical stuff can be messy and will screw with your brain, so I would stick with the 55 gallon or chuck the 6' tank on some slabs in the basement

 

The basement is not an option. It's a creepy basement, not a finished basement. My living room is the only option. So, in reality, the 55 seems to be my only option. Thanks, guys.

 

Don't give up so easily! It sounds like basement is unfinished and drop ceiling should make it easy to see what is under the tank area.

I added basement support to my 125g tank with 2x $35 post jacks and a piece of 4x4 lumber. As long as you can use a wrench and a level you can do the same. Each post jack holds near 10k/lbs.

Look here...

 

Thanks, Jamieson22. Did you do anything to find out that you needed extra support, or did you just do it so you knew you'd be good?

 

I own a home built in the early 90s...best as I can tell it is of good standard construction for the time and I have been told in lamens terms it is a well built home. I have a crawlspace and the home is a 1 story with a finished attic. My tanks are all on the main floor....my fish room has 3x75G, 1x50G, and 1x40G. Am I concerned? No...I have the tanks on either an exterior facing wall or along the center-line of the home with the extra support beams etc.

In other rooms I have 2 more 55G, a 50G, a 40G, and a 29G. My guest bedroom has a 55G, 40, and 29. Will be replacing the 55 with a 75/90G soon.

Spread the weight of your tank out over as many floor joists as possible...try not to have them parallel(although I do have some tanks parallel) and stick to support walls or exterior facing walls for the most support. Honestly any tank 150G or less I would not worry about on the first floor of a structurally sound home when placed this way.

 

Nothing "formal". Neighbor is an engineer and came over to take a look and agreed with my plan and mentioned some other options (sistering joists, etc).

Back of my tank is on load bearing wall, and joists run parallel with tank. So tank is between concrete wall at back and comes close to hitting 2nd joist out from that wall. So much of it is over 1st joist out from wall. I basically put a jack post under 1st and 2nd joists out from wall, near middle of tank.

Basically get under the tank area and see what the joists are (2x?), what their span is and what direction they go (parallel or perpendicular to tank). That will give you some idea of how to support.

Assume it won't matter in that area of basement if you have post going from floor to ceiling? Luckily for me the area is by all my mechanical and completely out of the way even when we finish basement. Jack posst can be found at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. I bought at Menard's as they were $35 vs $50 at other places.

Here is the thread that got me worried and made me decide to add support. Post back if you want any help/advice.

 

Jamieson22 nailed it on the head

 

Thanks! Unfortunately Jamieson22's post goes far beyond my understanding of anything related to carpentry, etc. I really wasn't exaggerating in my first post of this thread when I stated that all of that stuff is too technical for me.

However, MC4RKiller's post makes it sound like I really have nothing to worry about. The wall my tank is not an exterior wall, but my guess is that it might be load bearing as it's a thick wall between my living room and kitchen, with a half bathroom built into it on the kitchen side (does my assumption make sense?). If I don't want to do any prep work, what's the largest tank that would be safe to have? After I get this info, I'll then worry about being smart about doing this.

 

A 125g tank will be in excess of 1500 pounds when full, all in a 6' x 1.5' area. In a town home, I would assume your outside walls are load bearing. I would say a 55-75g is max I'd do without considering supports.

Go in basement and take a few photos of the joists (the long most likely wood beams running under 1st floor) and post them. Take a few measurements from where those beams come out from the outside walls of your house.

You don't want sagging floors or worse from the tank. Jack posts are a < $100 insurance policy. Took about 30 minutes to install. Worst case hire a handyman.

 

Thanks, Jamieson22! I'll try to get some pics to post fairly soon.

 

A 125g is no more weight per sq in than a 55 if that makes you feel better.

 

MC4RKiller, that definitely makes me feel better. But, if that's the case, why is everyone else suggesting it might be too much weight, talking about supports, etc?

 

A 125g is no more weight per sq in than a 55 if that makes you feel better.

Id like to see the conversion for that...?

 

125 is 1296sq in weighs about 1400lbs
55 is 576sq in and weighs 600lbs

The weight per sq inch is not that much more especially when you factor in it will hit a few more joists for support.

More support isn't a bad idea because it is about 800lbs extra. I am simply stating most adequately built structurally sound homes can handle a tank that size if placed on a load bearing wall. If it were a crazy tall column tank I'd say yes to more support being necessary because the weight wouldn't be spread out but this will be over 6-7 joists...not a huge issue IME.

 

In the end, you will hear what you want to hear.

I felt much better after investing $80 and 30 minutes to ensure my tank would not cause any structural issues with my floors. Weigh that against the cost of being wrong.

This is a good read on the subject.

 

Maths not my expertise but I was curious. No offense. Seems plausible. I always over support. I built my stand for a 150 it will easily support 4 times its actual weight.

I agree 100% id add supports.

 

Thanks again, for all the information. So, to make this all as simple as possible, 75 gallons is the largest I should go with without adding support, and anything larger I should automatically add support as a precaution...right?

 

If you could find out if your floor joist are running with the tank or perpendicular that would be great.

If they run perpendicular to tank, I don't think You Have much to worry about.

If they run parallel, I would add supports.

 

Ok, thank you! Possibly a silly question here (but I did warn you that I couldn't handle any technical advice!)...when you refer to floor joists, these are the beams that I see if I remove the panels from the drop ceiling, right?

 

Ok, thank you! Possibly a silly question here (but I did warn you that I couldn't handle any technical advice!)...when you refer to floor joists, these are the beams that I see if I remove the panels from the drop ceiling, right?

Yes, the beams.

They may be 2"x10" or 2"x12" beams but I'm not a general contractor. I'm an engineer lol

As with being an engineer I always tend to go overkill...

 

Overkill is good, my father in law cleared my fish room prior to me doing it the way I have. My house uses 2x12s as joists and the house centerline is supported by additional beams and blocks. I do agree if it parallel do supports for sure if it is perpendicular there isn't a need if the tank is placed correctly. You could also look into an unusual tank shape such as a 5ft 90/100g that would give you more of the appearance you want but spread its weight out further.

 

Ok, I've attached a picture of the floor joists from the basement. This isn't from the exact area where my tank is, but my house isn't big, so I'm thinking it should look the same. It looks like the joists run perpendicular to the tank.

 

So your tank will run the same way as those copper pipes(I think they are pipes?)

 

They are pipes! Although, I'm not positive what pipes (I think water), so hopefully what kind of pipes doesn't matter? But, yes, the pipes run parallel to the tank.

 

They are pipes! Although, I'm not positive what pipes (I think water), so hopefully what kind of pipes doesn't matter? But, yes, the pipes run parallel to the tank.

I think you are fine.

Do you have a tape measure to measure those beams/joist. J/W because they look quite beefy.

Pipes are probably just your hot and cold water.

 

If they are copper pipes you may have issues with keeping invertabrates as theyre sensitive to copper. Structual wise you should be fine with a 75 anything bigger id add so e floor to ceiling posts.

 

At what point in the span of those joists will the tank sit?

 

I can measure. Am I measuring the bottom or side of the joist? Will those pipes factor into anything at all? I have NO clue about your last question regarding span, Jameison22.

 

They shouldnt be affected at all. But they will also help indicate if the floor begins to bow from weight. Although I doubt you'll have issues.

 

I can measure. Am I measuring the bottom or side of the joist? Will those pipes factor into anything at all? I have NO clue about your last question regarding span, Jameison22.

Both please. example 2" x 12" beam will actually be 1.5" x 11.25"

 

Ok, unless I'm misunderstanding something about what y'all are saying, the length of the joist doesn't factor into this (Maybe all joists are all the same length?), and the measurements that are needed are the width of the bottom x the width of the side.

If the above is correct, I'm getting approximately 1.5" x 9.5". Since this is not one of the measurements posted by Thurgood11, I'm not sure what my measurements mean.

 

You got 2" x 10" beams. I was just wondering. Because they looked beefier in the pictures. Length does play a factor but since your perpendicular, you should be fine

 

Thanks, Thurgood11! So, although you said I should be fine, what's your final thought in more detail? Knowing what I have in between my floor and my basement, what's the largest tank you'd be comfortable with without adding extra support?

 

Unless you live in a chicken coop or your house is really old (100 years or more) you can put I 125 in it. I know everyone is going to try to prove me wrong, but I'm basing my statement on 26 years of being one of the biggest retail aquarium sellers in Nor CAL. I also was a sales rep for the largest acrylic tank manufacturing Co. on the west coast for 6 years. I helped set up stores, and have NEVER had a tank fall threw the floor!!! I would guess my total tank sales between both jobs to be over 100 thousand assorted size aquariums! Do use common sense, if the place your going to put the tank seems soft or the floor gives a little when you stand on it, then I would take a hard look at the area. Most building codes are 200 pounds per sq. ft. and a 125 is 9 sq. ft. that = 1800 pounds. Most tanks weigh out at 9 to 10 pounds a gallon with all the filters, gravel, ornaments and water= 1125 to 1250 pounds. The only thing I left out is the stand, they do varI in weight.
Have fun with your new tank!
Harry