Supporting 125g tank and 55g sump old house.

[LegoZ81]

I am needing help to determine what will need to be done to reinforce my floor to support the weight of this tank/sump/stand and all other equipment for a reef tank without sagging or damaging the floor structure in any way.

The floor joists run parallel to the tank and it sits on an outside wall. I will need to measure what the joists are (2x8 - 2x10 - 2x12) tonight and what their spacing is. I will also get a few pictures.

The tank is a Perfecto 125 and the sump will be a 55 Perfecto.
I will be running 2 250 MH with electronic ballasts and 2 175 with magnetic/tar ballasts (1 175 on display one on sump)

To help give an idea of what construction methods were used:

The house has a stepped brick foundation and was more than likely built pre-1900's.
There are remnants of knob and tube wiring, even above the addition (they added on a bathroom and another room). This makes me believe that add on was sometime pre-1930's.

If you need any other info please let me know.

 

[Benny Z]

omg...

sorry, i just couldn't help myself.

;þ~~~

sorry man.

i'll come by and take another look soon.

 

[dannieboiz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6688884#post6688884 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Benny Z
omg...

sorry, i just couldn't help myself.

;þ~~~

sorry man.

i'll come by and take another look soon.

ROLMFAO you have too much time on your hands. :lolspin:

 

[LegoZ81]

Situation is that the joists are old 2x8 (true 2"x8")
here are some pics of the floor structure:

 

[LegoZ81]

http://www.clubphoto.com/_cgi-bin/app.pl/albums/large_image_view?id=4071667&link_code=sa01_17

 

[kase]

sorry for the off topic post..i like your hacth i have a 92' b18 minds is red. i thought i was the only race and saltwater freak out there. this a great hobby. hopely some find anw to you question.

 

[Benny Z]

i've had my share of hybrid civics, too.

 

[BruiseAndy]

Double or triple up the joist that will be supporting it (run from wall to main beam). You could also buil a floor to ceiling shelf in basement and use corners of shelf for support.

 

[LegoZ81]

I'll try yo get pics up of the progress so far.
hopefully this will work. I am also going to be putting a floor jack in on the cross brace in that room that is 16' long as the floor moves ~1" if someone jumps!!!!!!

 

[piscivorous]

I'd be looking at an adjustapost....you've got a nice setup in the basement too...right next to the plumbing for your laundry....I just saw a great setup where the guy had his 75 gallon sump sitting on a table next to his laundry and dryer...and to the side of that was a basin sink...he had his RO/DI unit all plumbed in right there...waste water just went down the drain into the basin sink, as did the skimmate which ran from a tube on the skimmer into the sink. Overflow from the tank came right down through the floor...and then was pumped back up into the tank. He did all of his water changes/maintenance down in the basement. Very nice setup. His Ca reactor was down there as well.

 

[TANGBOY5000]

First off, setting a tank up running parallel with the joists is always a bad idea. That floor is going to sag like crazy. Luckily you have good access from below. Go to Home Depot, Lowes, or whatever big box store you have around and get 4 of the metal jack supports. Use those to support the beams under the tank, this should solve your weight issue. Do not set that tank up without supporting the floor in some way, even if it is a couple of 4x4 post wedged under the beams.

 

[LegoZ81]

 

[LegoZ81]

How does this look? ^

 

[wrassie86]

Looks good,Can i ask how much the Lally Columns costed?I need to get a few myself.

 

[Benny Z]

bingo!

good job!

 

[LegoZ81]

~$25 bux a piece.

 

[wrassie86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6706581#post6706581 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LegoZ81
~$25 bux a piece.

Cool.i was afraid i was gonna be shocked when i seen the prices.Thats pretty cheap for piece of mind.compared to some other things.I'm also working with a house about the same age as yours.

 

[jimmyleg]

How thick is your floor? The jack will only support as well as it's supported. Better to distribute the load a bit more. One possibility would be to place a 24" long 2x12 (or 2x10 or 2x8) under the foot of the jack to spread the load a bit if you are going to put the primary burden on the center jack. Best bet would be to sister the joist all the way across prior to posting underneath it and bracing the sistered joist to the one next to it to keep the first from twisting. If your basement floor is not thick enough (<4") to carry the load then you would need to open it and place a footing (2'x2'x1') under the shoe. check the load rating on the jack, I'm guessing it's in the 10,000 psi point load range. I'd assume your total load across 60"? of 2x8 joist to be in the sub 2000# range.which gets spread across the width of the tank, which is spread across the width of the main level flooring material, the sub floor, the joist and finally to your jack.

All of this hot air only means that I'm not sure what you've got there will work as is

 

[jimmyleg]

Sorry just looked again, sistering the joists will certainly help, only potential weak point is where the jack's shoe carries the load at the basement floor.

 

[wrassie86]

Heres a link to an article I found,that had some pretty good info.


http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/framecarp/supplement/floor/joist1/raising.htm