Will my tank fall through the floor ?!? (moving/Urgent)

[Avalanche Wolf]

We recently found out our landlord filed BK and is surrendering the house which means we have to move a year and 3 months before our lease was due.

The house we are looking at though has a raised floor. The house is located in the Burtonwood area if that helps. I am just concerned the floor will not be able to handle the tank.

The tank in question is my 100g. Total water in the tank is about 120 gallons when the sump is full so there is aprox 960 lbs right there. The tank sits on a 64" x 22" foot print.

Being from CA we never lived in a home with a crawl space so frankly i just do not know.

(very old pic )

 

[Kalied20]

I got my 90 gallon over a crawl space in our house. I did put it on a braced area on the main bearing wall though. I am thinking about moving it to the Dining room. If I do I am going to buy a few of the adjustable metal braces that go from the ground to the floor joists. They look kind of like the old car stands. The only suggestion that I have is to make sure tht you place the tank perpendicular to the floor joists and not parallel.

 

[fallinapart]

Just to give you some reassurance, I live in a 20+ old mobile Home and have a 90gal with a 60 sump next to it. I also wondered about that, so I got some 3/4" plywood and sat both the tank and sump on that to help distribute the load & I made sure it was sitting on top of at least 2 floor joists. I would hope that the house would be at least as capable of supporting the tank and my mobile home is. Plus I have 4 other tanks in the mobile home . so far the tanks have not fallen through to the ground and the mobile home is still as level as it every was .

Norman

 

[Avalanche Wolf]

I just called the builder which are going to call me back. The company that built the home is Jones CO.

 

[Avalanche Wolf]

I spoke with the builder and using a aprox weight of 1560 lbs

960 120 gallons water
80 sand
120 rock
400 tank and equipment

The tank would need to be placed on a outside wall and the floor would need to have reinforcment piles under there the tank is placed.

Sounds like it will be quite the job to do but he did not recommend placing the tank until that was done as the point force load would be too much and sag the floor over time. Looks like we are going to have to find another location as giving the tank up is not an option, too much a part of our lives and eventually i would like to get a larger tank as well.

 

[Pickupman66]

Avalanche,

I would make sure you put it on a load bearing wall. meaning one that is on the outside directly supported by the cinder blocks, or one that has bracing under it (piers in the crawl space). mine is on an exterior wall and I have not had any issues with it. then agian it is only a 75. I also had in in the middle of the house, but above the piers and it did well there. when in doubt, brace it. it is not extremely expensive. if you have having the house built, you could easily get it braced.

 

[teamreefers]

Jack and I have a 200 gal w/ 50 gaL SUMP display on an interior wall. we have a crawl space under our house. Jack went to home depot bought 2 house jacks and a 8 ft 4x4 and placed it directly under where the tank is and we have had no issues the floor even quit squeeking. The interior wall is at the main center beam of the house. so it is a load bearing wall I guess.

 

[Avalanche Wolf]

Well that makes it sound more reasonable . The home builder made it sound like it was a major construction task including the pouring of a concrete slab. If it is a matter of jacks and a beam or even a frame that is something that I can do. Thanks for all the help guys

 

[nighttimenick]

Some contractors will tell you all kinds of things! To get out of doing it or to make more money. It is not as hard to brace as some will tell you. Teamreefers and Pickupman66 are right. This can be done very easy at little cost. A 8 ft 4X4 will only cost around 6 to 10 dollars. If you put it on a outside or load barring wall you will only need 1. If the crawl space is big enough I will help you if I can if you need it. I may have a 4X4 around you can have! Where is Burtonwood, I live in Murfreesboro? Ricky

 

[gflat65]

I braced my floor when in Nashville (125, 120 and 22 on same wall with 40 and 50 sumps) with cinderblocks, 2x4's, and shims. You will want to do it with no load on the floor. I preloaded it a little (not much, though). I pulled cinderblock with 2x4's to the wall the tanks were on (interior, but load bearing-ran through the center of the house to a Tee). Leveled it out as much as possible along the entire length of the wall and hammered in the shims. I didn't know to, but was later told to use plastic between the coulmn you add and the house bracing to keep termites out (can't move above the plastic layer to the wood). A pain in the back and a half days work, but Gollum up and it isn't too bad.

 

[Noon]

I have a 75 with 30g sump 100+lb rock in the upstairs bonus room over the garage. Its on the outside wall and has been there almost 5 years now. No extra support.

 

[Avalanche Wolf]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12168502#post12168502 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nighttimenick
Where is Burtonwood, I live in Murfreesboro? Ricky [/B]

It is still in Spring Hill which is about 5 miles south on 65 off of 840.


All these experiances are making me feel a lot better about it. I really could not idmagine living without my tank, has become too much of my life and a great hobby and the kids have even gotten into it espeically my middle child Chase which has his own aquarium as well.

Still not looking forward to moving the tank though so many of the corals are doing so well and you always seem to lose something in a move.

This house will will be a lot larger for our family which is much needed and will be a god send in the future as well. You know what they say all things happen for a reason

 

[NeveSSL]

When are you planning on moving, Steve? Maybe I can help somehow.

Brandon

 

[Avalanche Wolf]

We are looking within the next two weeks ( Apr 5th or before )

We found out today from the title company that they will not be notifing us, they are only required to notifiy the person on the title of the property, and since he is a sleeze and tried collecting on the rent even after he filed and didnt share with us that this was going on we highly doubt he will let us know the date as well.

The best we can go on is that he filed the first week of January and the process takes 90 days from filing so we are not taking any chances and moving before the property is locked by the sheriff.

Atleast this new house we are looking at is a whopping 1/4 mile away so it should not be an expensive move but just a pain when it is something you are not expecting as our lease was not up till July

We could hire an attorney for the break of the lease , moving expenses and the deposit but we lived here the past 2 months rent free so we are just calling it a wash and making the best of it.

 

[waynesworld]

Well I have my 240, 180, 2 150 sumps and a couple of small tanks on a 50 year old floor that has a crawl space. I never reinforced anything.

 

[NeveSSL]

Oh, ok... cool man. Just give me a yell when you get a solid date. I could probably come help move your tank on a Saturday or Sunday.

Good luck with everything... sounds like a potentially sticky situation!

Brandon

 

[nighttimenick]

Just let me know a few days in advance and I will try to help if I can. As long as I don't have to work a double shift. Ricky

 

[waynesworld]

I have trailers and a 100 gal Rubbermaid if needed but not sure on the time if I will be able to help but Brandon can get the stuff and if need can us a truck.

 

[meintn]

I just made sure the tank was positioned near a load bearing way long ways across several beams under the floor and haven't have any problems.

 

[Sir Knight]

Assuming you are talking about a rental house and not to be a pain, but did you consider making sure your new landlord doesn't have a problem with you having that size tank on his/her property and if needed let you make the modifications to the house.