Large Tank on Upper Floor

[jerburton]

Hi everyone,

I am putting together the pieces and components for setting up a large reef system (180-250 gal) in the future. However ideally I would like to put the tank on the second floor of a condo. I was hoping I could get some feedback regarding keeping large tanks on the second, third, etc, floor regarding logistics, weight constraints, dealing with stairs and elevators, etc.

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone

 

[MTH]

This is a difficult subject. Right now I have a 60 gallon prop tank. I was planning to upgrade and even with my condo being a recent build I decided its too risky. I only have basic info but from what I've read you would want to put the tank against a load bearing wall. Some people build platforms with a larger foot print than the tank and stand to distribute the weight over more square footage. With the recent earthquakes in SoCal I ended up staying on the smaller side with a 60 gallon cube. I'll still be building a platform for it to sit on to help with the weight. Even a small tank like this will weigh 500+ pounds not including the sump. I have a semi cube (36" x 30" x 24") waiting to be set up but can't risk it. This would be 100+ gallons (not including sump). My dream reef will just have to wait. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[cmashman]

I setup a 6' tank (~125 g) in my office upstairs. Also had a 50g sump, 80lbs sand, 75lbs rock, and a stand that probably weighs 100+lbs. After I filled it up, the doors directly below my office downstairs were no longer level. The frames were bowing in. Even though I built the stand longer than the tank and wider, it was still too much weight in a small area. I live in a house where I know what's inside the walls, and I wasn't comfortable with how 1100lbs was making the walls sag. I emptied the tank and moved the sump and stand downstairs along a load bearing wall that has a double 2x12 beam running under it that rests on block columns. What bites is now I need to get help moving the empty tank (250lbs) downstairs. Should have setup down there in the first place. BTW, I've setup a small 20g in its place in my office as a consolation.
Upstairs would be fine if you were building a house and could specifically design for it. My father's been in high end home construction all his life and he balked at the idea of the big tank upstairs. Should have listened to dad....

 

[chimmike]

in this condo, is the floor concrete? What's the thickness? How close to a supporting wall? I think, honestly, it depends on the structure the most.

Another thing to consider is, with a very large tank, if there were to be a catastrophic failure, that water could seep into units below you. Something to think about.

 

[heisenberg]

Unless it's reinforced concrete, this is an accident waiting to happen. A catastrophe in the making, really. I've read too many scary threads on newsgroups back in the day...

 

[outy]

I had a 100g set up on my second floor in a 100 year old house. It was close to load bearing wall and it runs across 4 -5 beams. [not long wise]

I'm upgrading to a 215 and so far im not afraid of it one bit.

the main trick is keeping it next to a wall so that you have the wall supporting the floor joices. never go long ways with the floor joices.

 

[duastina]

I have had my 210 in an upper appt for 2 yrs moved to a place that was on concrete now i'm moving again to an upper, from my research the tank must cross the floor supports not just sit on one, also against a load bearing wall..