New 180 gallon...worried about weight

[aargh]

Hello everyone, I am a long-time reader, and this is my first post. I've been in the hobby for 20 years, and have never worried about the weight of a tank, but this one will be my biggest yet, and I want to double-check.

The tank is a room-divider, with dimensions 36" high, 63" long, and 20" wide. I'm estimating 2,500 pounds with water, sand and rock. The tank will be a custom build, using 19mm PPG Starphire on 3 sides.

The footprint of the stand will be about 10 square feet, resting on a hardwood floor above 2 joists in the basement below. The house is 12 years old.

The sump will be in the basement. No extra weight in the stand.

I'm a huge fan of Reef Central, and will document my tank build if anyone is interested. Love to know what the collective wisdom has to say about whether my floor should be able to support the weight.

thanks,
Brian

 

[cpl40475]

I'd contact the builder of the house and see what type joists he used. You cn always (if area allows it) put additional floor supports in the basement like floor jacks or something.

 

[thenewone]

is it goin to be upstairs that you are consern

 

[noobtothereef]

2500 lbs is too much for 2 floor joists to handle, unless its a very short span, but an average of 12' with 2x10 joists it wont work, now if it was 16" engineered floor joists thats a different story, which i doubt they are, my 120 with 50 in the sump is against the wall and runs across 3 joists and still sagged the floor, had to add 2 basement jacks with a 4x6 on top of them to level the tank back out, i wouldnt chance it, nothing like a tank size hole in your floor...............

 

[HulaMom]

I have a 180 sitting parallel on two 2x6 floor joists 2' on center. My floor didn't sag a bit, but you have to do some bracing underneath. As long as you have room to brace, no problem.