Planning a 200g aquarium, worried about the weight

[Pufferfood]

Hey everyone,

With me moving my work area/office downstairs to the groundfloor the first thing that popped up in my mind was that I could finally have a larger aquarium :spin3:.

What I would like is a 72x24x24 tank, but, I am quite worried about the weight and whether or not the floor would hold it. No blueprints are available sadly enough so all I know is from observation.

The house has a concrete foundation upon which wooden beams run across covered by some sort of compressed wood panelling.

Foundation

Given that there is concrete, but no way to get under it I am let to believe this is slab-on-grade. Or rather this is the only type I could find that matched.

I am going to build the stand myself and incorporate a desk and maybe some small bookcases. I might also build the aquarium myself depending on what is cheaper.

I made the stand longer than the tank so that the weight gets spread out a bit more. I haven't taken the time to properly measure everything out as I am still trying to figure out SketchUp itself but it should give a general idea. The length of the stand and the depth are at least correct.

Stand with aquarium

Below is a sketch of the house, the blue line indicates a load-bearing wall. It's the only one I know of, but perhaps there are more that might be loadbearing or atleast offer support. I am no engineer.

House itself (sketch)

The beams on top of the concrete run perpendicular to the stand which I hope maximizes the weight distribution.

To get to my question:

Should I be worried about the weight of a 200g tank + 40g sump and the stand itself?

 

[antciam]

First off I am not an engineer or a builder, but I think you should be fine. It sounds like your home is built on a crawl which is how my parents home is built and they have a baby grand piano in their dinning room. To make you feel better I have a 75, 40 and a 26 gallon tank in my upstairs bedroom and so far the floor hasnt fallen through.

So 240 total gallons should be fine.

 

[Pufferfood]

Thanks for your input . I've managed to get a hold of the report & house plans the municipality has, just need to make an appointment with the right person there, so I can have some input on the concrete type & class.

All my own calculations seem to put it at 1.5~2 tonnes per square meter but that is based on most likely flawed information on concrete class conversion between then and now.

 

[Supra97]

If the joists are right ontop of the concrete you'll be fine. I've never seen conventional construction like that though. I've had my own construction company for 15 yrs. if its a true crawl space, you might want to consider some support.
Supra

 

[Pufferfood]

If the joists are right ontop of the concrete you'll be fine. I've never seen conventional construction like that though. I've had my own construction company for 15 yrs. if its a true crawl space, you might want to consider some support.
Supra

There is no crawlspace at all. From what I can tell it's slab-on-grade. The report says it has till underneath. The wooden beams + floorboard on top I think serve 2 purposes, isolation and weight distribution. It goes down to around -27° Celsius in the winter here.

 

[dave.m]

It might be worth your while to lift a few floorboards to see what is actually under there. If the beams are wood and resting directly on the concrete slab I would be worried about rot from moisture in the concrete.

What about drainage? With an aquarium, it is not a question of if there will be a spill, but of when and how large. Is the concrete slab sloped to carry any spilled water to a drain? You may need to modify the surface of your slab to accommodate a drain.

Consulting a structural engineer now might be in your best interests to avoid costly mistakes down the road.

Dave.M