Question on using floor jack in the basement to support tank on main floor

[albano]

Just gonna throw this out there, they make these things called adjusta-posts. Just sayin.

Can't speak for everyone else, but adjustable posts/lally columns/floor jacks is exactly what I'm referring to

 

[Misled]

Just making sure.

 

[joedc]

Can't speak for everyone else, but adjustable posts/lally columns/floor jacks is exactly what I'm referring to

There the same thing and also I see the joist size witch is pretty strong but the longer the joist the weaker

 

[fredyu]

thanks for all your reply!

I believe the floor jacks should be on 'plates', not directly on the concrete/flooring

I the 'plates' something you buy from hardware store? or something you DIY from wood?

I'd be more concerned with the stand having feet that its putting all its weight on vs a full perimeter base to distribute its weight, the thought of one of those feet punching a hole or slowly depressing a large dent in the flooring could be very problematic.

Dave, this is actually more concern to me too. I am thanking building a frame with 2"x4" and have all 4 legs sitting on the frame so to avoid the feet punching a hole or dent the floor. also the frame will distribute the weight to the frame and then to the floor. do you have any other suggestion?

The "sandwich" of a pair of 2x6's with 3/4" plywood between would be used as a header. Make it long enough to span the full width of the tank plus an additional floor joist on both sides. For example - if the tank is 48" and the floor joists are 16" on center, it will straddle three of them - make your header long enough to span 5 floor joists and use one floor jack in the center.

Thanks Billdogg, I will do what you suggest for sure

There the same thing and also I see the joist size witch is pretty strong but the longer the joist the weaker

The joist run from the wall to the "I" beam around 12 feet long. The tank will be located on the wall side of the joist.


Frederick

 

[fredyu]

I found a good articles explaining Residential Wood Framed Floors and Aquarium Weights if you are interested

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html

Frederick

 

[sleepydoc]

Just an observation - you're planning on putting a 180 gallon system that will weigh close to a ton, possibly more. It's on a metal stand, concentrating the weight in 6 points. You're trying to figure out if you need supports, figuring you probably do, but don't know which ones to get and aren't sure how to properly install them so you're asking a bunch of people you really don't know with unknown levels of experience and expertise on an internet site.

I would proceed cautiously and consider having someone with experience come and help you.

 

[rgulrich]

Or locate a local structural engineer to come in and inspect the structure and your stand, and then provide you written recommendations. It's worth the investment, and provides quite a bit of peace of mind.
Been down that path with my 300DD in a living room with long floor joists.

 

[albano]

Or locate a local structural engineer to come in and inspect the structure and your stand, and then provide you written recommendations. It's worth the investment, and provides quite a bit of peace of mind.
Been down that path with my 300DD in a living room with long floor joists.

+1... Had an engineer come to my home when I was setting up a 300 in my living room and he recommended 'sistering up' joists... 12 yrs later when I was considering my 450g, another engineer came over and told me that I should add a steel beam and 'pony walls' with steel supports in the basement

 

[ca1ore]

I had a structural engineer come and look at my proposed tank site (a 265 gal) and he made a really interesting observation that not only is it about carrying the weight, but also about minimizing deflection. A set of floor joists might be quite capable of handling the weight, but may deflect unevenly thus creating stress on the tank. His suggestion (absent the excruciating details) was to try to have full vertical support as close to all four corners as possible as the best way to eliminate deflection.

 

[DerekFF]

If you use foam to level your tank this shouldn't be an issue? I'm not an engineer but I think leveling your tank/stand eliminates what he's talking about. If you did no stand/tank leveling this could definitely lead to uneven flooring levels and possible torsion on the stand/tank but with leveling I think it's a non-issue. Of course doing it his way will probably make leveling easier also though depending on the floor.

 

[ca1ore]

I don't see how leveling the stand would necessarily gave any bearing on whether weight deflects the beams or not. If one end of the tank is supported by floor jacks and the other is not, deflection of the beams would put the stand out of level.

 

[sleepydoc]

+1
Leveling the stand has nothing to do with the floor flexing. Even if the stand is perfectly level, if the floor flexes, either the stand is rigid enough to stay square without the floor support, or it will flex with the floor and either go out of level or worse, go out of square. Both will cause increased stress on the tank and the silicone joints. This is exactly why an engineering evaluation can be valuable and why analogies like "3 football players sitting on a couch put more stress on the floor" don't apply. The couch doesn't care if the floor flexes a bit. Your tank does.

Foam will do nothing for leveling and nothing for flexing. Foam is recommended under rimless tanks to prevent stress fractures from point loading. It is not recommended and generally serves no purpose under a framed tank.

If the stand is out of level, the foam will be too. It the top is not flat/coplanar, the foam will also flex with the top of the stand. If the stand flexes because the floor is flexing, the foam will too. Under a standard framed tanks, best case is it does nothing. Worst case it compresses at the edges and the non-compressed part puts pressure on the bottom pane of glass causing premature failure. Worse yet, the stand slips 1/4" and foam slips inside the frame putting all the pressure on the bottom pane of glass.