having floor checked

[StephNewman]

Did anyone have their floor inspected before placing up their fishtank. I am gettng a 180 gallon and have heard I should make sure my floor can handle it. Anyone else have this done. If so, who did you go with and how much did it cost. I called two places and they wanted 250.00 or more, which sounds rediculous to me when they are looking at a small area of my house.

 

[Dert42]

are you putting it on the ground floor? or upstairs?
i would be hesitant to put it upstairs.

 

[GeoffSFAs10]

if its going on the main floor go in your basement and look at your floor joists. anything 2x10 or larger will be good to go, just place it the opposite way the joists are running.

 

[MayoBoy]

The 250 includes their professional opinion, insurance, time, etc. so it's really not that out of line.

How old is the house? Is it going against an outside wall or over the center beam? How big are the joists and how far apart are they?

Chances are that it's OK as long as it's in close proximity to the foundation but if you want to sleep well at night, put a couple of 2x6's 2' out from the foundation (running across the floor joists) and bring the load down to the basement floor with a couple of 4x4's. Put down a couple of those pier blocks to spread the weight across the floor and you should be good to go. Or, if you need more storage, just build a closet in that spot and you can kill 2 birds with one stone. Maybe even a little room for your sump, fuge, etc.?

 

[Phyto]

I put mine the opposite direction of floor joists. I then bulit two extra supports under the house with cinder blocks, at the joists just under the ends of the tank. I have already replaced a large section of floor due to another tank.

 

[frenchie]

i was worried about it but i was always told as far as long tanks go the longer the tank the more weight displacement, but taller tanks could be a problem when getting to bigger sizes. don't really know i'm only a machinist but thats i what they told me before i put in my 125gallon on main floor against front wall of house. i figure putting it against main wall and not out into the room would be strong enough.

 

[bigcasino]

I used to sell waterbeds and when people would ask if there homes would support there weight answer certainaly the weight distribution on a solid base foundation equalled uot to approx. 7lbs per sq in building code for homesre approx 60lbs per sq in you should be pretty safe I've yet to hear of bed or tank fall thru any floors

 

[DrBDC]

Think about it. Say you have a family reunion and a few generation of the men stand against the wall for a pic. There's 6 men standing there at 200 ea, 1200 lbs total. Now depending on how big thier feet are would tell you the psi but for calculation lets say their feet are 1 sq. ft each, that is 6 sq ft. 1200 lbs is about what a 120 gallon tank weighs but that 120 gallon tank is on 8 sq. ft. instead of the 6 sq. ft.

For long term safety, settling, etc. just make sure it sits across several joists instead of all down 1. I'll try to draw how that would be:

Like this l l l l l <- the joists underneath the tank

not like this ___________

That way it's on multiple joists and even old rotted ones could probably hold.

 

[Mykayel]

180 gallons of water is approximately 1500 lbs. Figure1700-1800 once you add the rock and sand. And 2000+ when you add in the weight of the tank and stand. Is there going to be a sump under the tank because that's more weight? S0, with joists at 16" o.c. and a 6' long tank, that's 533 lbs max load per joist assuming the load is equally distributed accross the floor, which is nothing for an immediate load, and I wouldn't even think would be an issue with creep but I really don't know as I've never delt with wood design. But even so, if you want piece of mind and added capacity, you could always double up the floor joists under where your tank is going to sit.

 

[DrBDC]

You could double them or maybe even add some of those little angled pieces where they make an X between the joists. That will transfer the weight load a little and also help with torquing of the joists over time. But still I wouldn't bother if it were on multiple joists.

 

[StephNewman]

250.00 was if I didall the work to getthe house skimaticsand all othe info he needed to figure out. It would ony take them a alf hour to look at it probably and tell me if it is safe.
After reading your replies i think the best place to put it in my living room is against the non supporting wall. I choose tis spot because the front of the tank will end up resting on top of the center metal brace in my basement and the re of the tank will be resting o the perpendicular floor joists. This seem to be the best place here most support would be at if I am understanding everything correctly.

 

[Mykayel]

Yeah, you probably couldn't find a better place.

 

[MperRluvR]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8529355#post8529355 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mykayel
180 gallons of water is approximately 1500 lbs. Figure1700-1800 once you add the rock and sand.

why would you add the weight of the rock? it's displacing water so it's not like it's adding that much weight. prolly the same amount of weight as with no rock.