Aquarium in Dallas 300 gallons

[krkqm2008]

So I am moving to Dallas from Washington, D.C. Next summer. I have been looking at houses online and no basements!
There is a media room and a game room on the 2nd floor
Would I need reinforcements off the floor? Any one who lives in Dallas please let me know in advance. Which LFS is the best to contact who can help with the design and plans and that reinforcement off the floor
Maybe it be better for me to put the tank on the first floor

 

[cubiclewarrior]

LOL I moved from Chicago to Oklahoma and most homes don't have basements here either.. considering both Texas and Oklahoma have quite a few SERIOUS tornadoes you would think a basement would be in the works with every home build. It shocked me also that 80% of the homes don't have basements..

In Chicago my home home was built in the early 30's and we reinforced the floor with 2x8's and beams . You can go through the trouble of hiring a structural engineer and they will in the end advise you to use 2x8's and beams but thats your call. we did something very similar to this link below and my wife decorated the beams to look like old rome pillars .. check out this guys build!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?p=506118




Checkout! http://www.dfwmas.org/

and look at the forums section http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/ and you will find all the shops they have there plus they have a great for sale section on the forum. You will be happy to know that Dallas has LOTS of nice saltwater fish stores and people that sell corals out of their garages. But some of the worst rush hour traffic I have ever seen in my life.... http://www.dfwmas.org/lfs


DSA or deep sea aquatics is out of that area they make very nice custom tanks! any of the local retailers can order from them.

I personally recommend them as they have made me 2 tanks in the past and each time the tanks were perfect.

Stay away from glass cages they are cheaper for a reason JMO

 

[worm5406]

NO... not much is worse than DC traffic. LOL

 

[alton]

I am 5 hours south but Dallas can sometimes get to 100 by 11:30am and stay that way for 6 hours straight. It gets cold in the winter. My friend had a 158 and a 125 on the second floor of his home with no problems. 300 may be a different story. Dallas is not known for tornadoes like Oklahoma. They still have them, just not that often. Check with http://www.dfwmas.org/ the local club in the Dallas Ft. Worth Area like the above post recommended for info.

 

[Sleepingtiger]

I live 20 minutes east of Dallas. There are quite a few LFS that you can check out. Visit dfwmas.org like others have mentioned. Also check out northtexasreeffanatics.org and www.dfwfishbox.com. I would not put a 300G auqarium on the second floor without having a structural engineer check it out. If your new house has a media room and game room, I am assuming it is no older than 10yrs. Most new houses in Dallas are not very well built. I have my 90G on the first floor. Welcome to Dallas. Stay away from 635 for the next several years!

 

[Dmorty217]

I am not a structural engineer but having the tank on the 2nd floor will depend on if you plan on having the tank on a load bearing wall and what way your floor joists are running in relation to how the tank is sitting on them... Ie having the tank spread out on several joists instead of running the length of 2 obviously is much better

 

[krkqm2008]

Thanks y'all for the comments, and yes nothing worst than Washington DC traffic, after sanfransisco we have the worst traffic , I have a 150 right now, and want to upgrade to 300 when I move to Dallas, after MACNA in Dallas a couple years back, I kinda had a hunch that there were good fish stores in Dallas. Thanks again, looking forward to moving to Dallas, and living in the heat lol
Wife and I have narrowed our search for houses in McKinney and Murphy.

 

[worm5406]

Ohh come on... I love DC traffic.

I have been here for more years that I can count and always enjoy it.

Just do not mention snow and it is ok. The people here DO NOT know how to drive in the snow. It should be a grammar school class.

 

[kuyatwo]

Welcome to Big D unless the second floor is concrete with pillars I doubt the 2nd floor will handle a big tank sitting on them.