Aquarium movers?

[thefuz]

Hello out there. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I feel like I need a day off from all the madness.

Speaking of insanity, I bought a 250 gallon tank over the weekend! Now I gotta move it. Any recommendations out there? Tank is currently in Brooklyn and need to get it to Stamford for temporary storage. No complicated corners or even stairs for this leg of the move, fortunately.

Also need to track down a structural engineer if anyone has a person or company in mind.

 

[RTMA]

Sweet bud! Cant wait to see this bad boy up and running! Moving that would probably need 4 people with suction cups.

Maybe hire some movers to move it...4 men and a truck? What are the dimensions? That thing looks super heavy.

As for the structural support, if thats going in your living room, I would suggest some 4x4 posts with 2x6 beams in your basement to support the floor joists.

 

[thefuz]

Tank is 84x28x25 not including the overflow.

It's indeed intended for the living room. However, this one is going perpendicular to the joists unlike the 90 gallon. Need to open up the wall underneath to see how much support is available already. Likely not enough to be safe.

 

[RTMA]

How close is the wall below where the tank will go? If it's directly below, that's quite lucky. Throw some more studs in it and call it a day.

 

[thefuz]

Directly beneath the wall behind the tank is the basement staircase wall. I'll need to open that up eventually anyway to get the plumbing through. Can make a judgement call then I suppose.

 

[RTMA]

Sounds good. Depending on what is in that wall, you should be able to drop in a few more studs. Or even throwing in 2 4x4 studs would easily do it. Let me know you need a hand. I have all the tools you'll need.

 

[EvilMel]

When I had my 240g, we had to add extra bracing under the floor. It was not fun but we had an architect friend come help us.

Good luck!!

 

[dudemeister]

Dude that's gonna rock! Good luck. I'll bring your filter socks over eventually....!

 

[smb2415]

if the length of the tank is going parallel with floor joists you'll need to put up a perpendicular wall below (ideally under the center of the tank). You could put up more than one perpendicular wall below but IMO its overkill. If placement of the wall below is an issue then you can put up a beam (perpendicular to the joists). when building wall position studs directly under floor joists. Sizing that beam will depend upon how far you are carrying the load to. Most likely (2) 2x6 supported by 4x4 will be fine, as long as the floor joists are not cut.

if you want the full breakdown of carrying load, beam sizing, etc you'll need to draw up a diagram with measurements, size of floor joists and spacing, span of floor joists between existing supporting points like outside wall or main carrying beam. I figure the tank is 250g so ~8lb/g =2000 plus weight of tank, equipment, etc so assume the worst @ 3000lbs. Im guessing the tank to be around 6"x3" which is 18 sqft, but adjust for actual size. So the load on the floor per sqft is 3000/18 = 166 pounds sqft (PSF). A quick google search shows that typical homes built to meet min codes, are constructed to support 40lbs PSF. So you can see that it is necessary to support the floor joists and the easiest, simplest, least costly manner would be to use a perpendicular wall below.

not sure it all that helps, Im not an engineer however Ive been in and around construction for many years.

 

[EvilMel]

Hijack: Santa hat

 

[thefuz]

Haha Mel!

Thanks, smb. The tank is 7'x2'and change, which puts your PSF about where I guessed it. The tank length is perpendicular to the joists below for certain. I'm probably going to have to do something extra either way just to be prudent though.

 

[smb2415]

I would recommend putting that wall underneath it - as close to the middle as poss.

If the tank is close to an outside wall (within 1-3') then Id put the wall under it as close to the opposite end as possible.

In either case you could also get by with a beam (doubled up 2x6 or 2x8)supported by 4x4s or doubled up 2x4 studs.

tip - be sure to use pressure treated wood where it touches the basement floor. You could go the extra step and use "sill seal" under that board as well. Its a plastic foam type type (inexpensive) and designed to allow the board to breath and not trap moisture under it.

 

[thefuz]

Great tips. Thanks!

 

[RTMA]

Just saw this tank in person last night. Mike - that is going to be freakin' awesome when its up!!!! Cant wait to see it running! Let me known if you need any help

 

[thefuz]

Thanks and appreciate the help with the final move into the house last night!! It's going to be a long road setting this beast up. Need to get a build thread up eventually. Right now I'm working on appeasing the wife!

 

[dudemeister]

Happy wife- happy life....