Biggest tank on second floor

[Vegas RN]

Im shopping around for houses and I really want an inwall tank with fish room but most of the single story houses in my area wont work with the floorplans available or there just too much money. I did find a 2 story house with a game room and a bedroom behind it that would be perfect for an inwall tank and fish room but its upstairs. Im figuring with a 200-300 gallon tank with sump, frag tank, hosp tank, refugium and other misc. equipment the floor would not have enough support. Has anyone done a larger tank upstairs? Any info would help and thanks for looking.

 

[beaglelax]

just have to spread the weigh along the joist of the 2nd floor its all in the design of the stand think of it as walking on thin ice you want to spread out the weight by laying down not standing in one spot. Standard framing (in ny) should hold 120+ lbs per sqaure foot. you should have plenty of support. But like everything else get more then one opinion.

 

[ricks]

Your 300 gallon will come in about 161# per square foot, and that's just the water. Doesn't include stand, canopy, tank, etc. You could end up around 200# per square foot. Myself I would not put a tank that size on a second floor with out lower level support...

Just my .2 cents worth..

 

[Jeff]

I have a 220 Perfecto on the second floor of a 100 year old house. I have had no problems.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

How could anyone here give you any type of opinion when you haven't give us any information about the structure of the house??? Even then, its still just an opinion. The only way to know for sure is to get a structural engineer to look at the place.

Engine 7, They dont build 'em like they used to!

 

[Jeff]

Thats true. This house is built like a tank. I have the tank up against a bearing wall and running perpendicular to the joists. Bob Villa would not approve lol.

 

[danskim]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11786326#post11786326 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Engine 7
I have a 220 Perfecto on the second floor of a 100 year old house. I have had no problems.

I think good condition older houses are stronger than new ones since they used hardwood for the frames instead of pine like now.

 

[Jeff]

You would be lucky to get a new house made of pine framing. A lot of new house are made of cheap floor trusses and lots of OSB particle board and glue. They look great and are cheap to build but not the same as the old days.

 

[Vegas RN]

thank you everyone for the input and you guys are right las vegas houses do go up overnight and Im sure they arent as strong as older houses were built. Ill look into more info on the house I have in mind and consult an engineer. Thanks again.