Will my 240g tank crack a tile floor?

[Hal]

I'm upgrading to a 72x28x30 glass tank. I plan to have a metal stand with 4 adjustable legs for leveling. The problem that I see is that this means that the entire weight of the tank and stand, water, rock, sand, etc. (in the ballpark of 3,000-4000 lbs) will be on the 4 adjustable feet, so roughly 750-1000 lbs per foot. Is that a problem for a tile floor?

 

[nctinter]

You should be fine. I'm no expert on physics but I think they weight still gets distributed over a larger area. Don't take my word. Someone with better knowledge will chime in but I have seen more than one large tank done this way. Even on heavy duty casters. If it were me though I would feel better having the whole base of the stand touching the floor

 

[jpsika08]

+1 with nctinter, it's better for the stand to distribute the weight all around rather than just 4 spots.

Good luck

 

[aakinego]

Place the stand on a large piece of plywood. That will help distribute the weight more evenly.

 

[tamortman]

i have a 210 on tile with a 75 gal sump no issues.

 

[mrmikeasaurus]

i had my 220 with a 110 sump on my tile floor and no issues at all... but that was the full stand making contact with the floor not just the corners

 

[ronreef]

Any update on this? My stand will also be on 4 adjustable legs for leveling. The weight of my 50gallon plus sump will be distributed on the 4 legs on a ceramic tile floor. Hod did yours work out? Any thoughts on mine?

 

[Hal]

Any update on this? My stand will also be on 4 adjustable legs for leveling. The weight of my 50gallon plus sump will be distributed on the 4 legs on a ceramic tile floor. Hod did yours work out? Any thoughts on mine?

UPDATE: I opted not to do a tile floor. Instead, I peeled the carpet and pad back and put the stand on that. My stand has 6 adjustable legs that terminate in bolt head that is 7/8" across. Whle I didn't look it up specifically, the load bearing capability of each bolt is probably 10,000 lbs. Each bolt head then sits on a 5x5 inch metal plate that is 1/4" thick; This is so the bolt head doesn't punch through the plywood. The metal plates rest directly on the plywood subfloor.

The wood sheathing for the metal stand will cover up the carpet edge.

It was cheaper to use carpeting than tile.

The only thing I can add is that if you haven't put the tile down yet, I'm told that porcelain tile will handle more load without cracking than normal ceramic tile. Double-check with your local hardware store that I don't have that backwards. Of course, the porcelain tile is more expensive. Your local hardware store should be able to tell you specifically what the load bearing capacity will be for the tile that you select.

 

[Acipenser]

Tile, unlike wood, will not flex. It will break. So it will greatly depend on the stability of your underlying subfloor and joists, unless of course you are on a concrete slab. The larger the tile, the smaller amount of floor deflection that it can tolerate before breaking.

So I would not be as concerned about the actual load bearing capacity of the individual tile that the feet of the stand are on (although that may come into play) but on the deflection of the floor under the load of the tank.

Of course, the individual tiles will also crack if they are not installed properly. Air gaps underneath the tile will put all of the load on the tile, instead of transfering it to the floor.

I don't think that I would recommend a tile floor unless you were on a slab. But I am not a tile professional, so take that as just my opinion.