How much weight can it hold

[lilredwuck]

I have a 180 gallon tank, with no way to support where I want to put it below. There is a crawl space with about 10" at most of space below it. I also have termites, so wood to ground contact is NOT an option. The floor joists sit on a concrete foundation on both sides, and are 2x10's. They are a total of 14' in length, but the room is about 13'. They are all on 16" centers. This is an add on room to the house. The floor joists are in fine condition. Just replaced the floor and insulation. From what I gather each 2x10 should hold over 1000 pounds. I just want to double check I will be fine. If it was just me I would throw it up and not care, but with small children I won't take the risk.

The sump will be located in the actual basement, so it will just be the tank itself, rock and sand on the floor. Every big tank I have seen has been on concrete in the basement. I haven't personally seen a big tank on a main level, so I want to be SURE. Tank measurements are 6x2x2

 

[maik1]

Your tank will be 2000-2500 lbs.
Check it out http://boonedocks.net/fishtank/ftweb.php


Maik1

 

[Alex T.]

A six foot tank should rest on at least 4 joists if you arrange it properly. I don't know who told you that a 2 x 10 holds roughly 1,000 pounds. There's a little more to it than that. The joist length is critical but only if you plan on locating the tank toward the center of the span, which I would never advise doing unless adequate perpendicular supports are installed under the existing joists with metal "lolly" column supports sitting on concrete. Arranging the tank against a wall perpendicular to the joists is the best, strongest and most intelligent location. It takes roughly 1,200 pounds per square inch of pressure to compromise a 2x10 joist. If these are solid wood joists, the 1,200 psi rating is standard, while the new "I" beam joist systems like Silent Floor are rated to 1,600 PSI.

What this means for you is that the weight of the tank, stand, sump and equipment, when located against a load bearing wall is more than adequate to carry and distribute the load across the floor for your system.

I helped a friend install a 10 foot, 400 gallon tank in his living room and even built the stand for him to support the weight, and that was over 6 years ago with no problems. With today's building codes and standards, I would be much more concerned with the quality of materials and workmanship that goes into the stand than I would be about the subfloor that is to support the system. Having said that, of utmost importance is that the stand be plumb and level in all directions. It is this added stress on the aquarium joints from improper leveling that is most commonly the cause of catastrophic failure at the silicone joint, especially in taller tanks. Besides, if the tank stand is not made well and constructed so that it allows even distribution by shimming and leveling properly, then all bets are off because the area taking on the most stress will carry the brunt of the load. And that my good friend your floor is not designed for.

 

[lilredwuck]

I got the info from http://www.ehow.com/how_7485788_calc...-capacity.html along with a couple other sites. Didn't make a ton of sense to me except that I should span it across as many joists as I can. It will be located up against the wall, which used to be the outside of the house. The sump itself, I will have in the basement. I have three 100 gallon rubbermaids, unsure if I am using them all. Probably use 2 of them and the third for making saltwater. The plumbing will run down behind the wall to the basement. This area is the front rooom, where most of the time is spent.

I can locate it in the dining room, which is a fish room right now, which has the basement below it, and sits on 2x12's. I just won't see the tank as much, and no vaulted ceiling. I just want to put it where I can see it all the time.

Or I can build it into the wall, from the garage, in 2 different spots. One spot would be visible to my room, or the other spot would be visible to the dining room.

Main thing is I want it in the front room, just needed to make sure the floor was going to hold, with the kids, and other furniture etc. This room itself is 13x28 with a vaulted ceiling.

In the fish room(dining room) I had a 125, that blew a seam. It was my fault for not shimming it completely properly. Others said it would be fine unlevel, but I guess it wasn't. It was 2am in the morning and the fishes were on the verge of dying, so I filled the tank, and put them in. Next night I was cleaning up the mess. So that worries me a little as well.
Somehow I built the stand unsquare, so I need to fix that, but I would like to have the tank up sometime. Fish are being looked after by a friend as well as the few corals that came with the tank.


Pretty much what you are saying is make sure the stand is built right and nice and level when set up and all should be fine.

 

[willybub]

i would re inforce with a beam and jack posts myself. i have a 90G and i still reinforced the floor i know i didnt have to but when me and 3 other ppl are admiring the tank that adds alot of wieght to it as well. it only cost me about 75 bux i did it all myself in about 20 min and now that spot in the floor can probly take a fully loaded semi haha


why did my signature come up twice?

 

[lilredwuck]

Where I want to put the tank, there is a 10" (inch) clearance under the floor. That's it. No basement in that area.

In my old house I had a two 55's stacked on top of each other running with the floor joists, but it had a wall under it. I also had a 90 gallon running with the joists, with no wall below it. This was on 2x6 solid floor joists. But it was a freshwater tank, so no rock except the substrate. It sat on 1 or 2 joists.

 

[lilredwuck]

So as long as the stand and tank are level I should be fine? Having arguements with wife, of why don't you just put it in the basement? Then I would never see it!

About to sell it all, even though I just bought it.