here is my problem, i live in a house on the second floor, the seems to be atleast 40 years old or less, i have a 120 gallon tank and i want to place against the outer wall in my living room, with all the weight with the water and my reef setup im thinking roughly with stand and all close to around 1500 pounds, do you think my floor will support this weight or will my floor collapse, i need serious answers cause i dont want to fill it and find out the hard way
2007-03-06 19:12:34 · 9 answers · asked by Jen C 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
im sure you want everything to be perfect and not have any mishaps, the best advice i would recomend is talk to the landlord about the weight you will be adding to the second floor and ask if it would be ok to add more suport to your floor and you are willing to pay for the materials and labour that is involve
2007-03-08 15:18:41 · answer #1 · answered by ashlar282 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We had a 110 in our living room. Our house is about 130 years old... Well, it didn't break the floor and crash into the basement, but it did warp the floor pretty good. Unfortunately, i dont think anyone should have fish tanks above 60gals on a 'top' floor. They should be on concrete both for your safety and the houses, and even the fish's! Right now we have a 90gal in the living room and it hasn't really warped the floor, but it may soon.
Answer: No, it shouldn't collapse. However, its probably going to be a huge load on the house. Make sure the tank is running along the beams in the floor, so the tank is parralel to the the stablizer beam-thingies that keep the floor on your house(you can tell I'm an animal person, lol). That way all the weight will be distributed and it wont bow your floor down.
2007-03-07 02:57:17 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your tank should be fine, however do you or can you see which way the supports are running? Larger tanks should be placed so they cross more than one suport. However per square foot, your tank will not crack or Fall thru the floor. I have a basement and my living room has 5 tanks. a 175, 125, 75 a 55 and a 30 all with stands and all along outside walls. My house is an old victorian built in the 1800's. I have no problems and the bedroom has 5 tanks and a waterbed.
Your floor will be fine.
2007-03-07 03:56:18 · answer #3 · answered by danielle Z 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Collapsing floors is not a concern no matter how big of a tank you have. You might meet somebody who found his floor out of shape after having a big aquarium for years, but you won't meet anyone who found themselves standing in water and looking up at a hole in the ceiling.
I've kept a 110 gallon tank on the second floor of a townhome without an issue, and a 30 gallon tank was along the same wall.
For larger tanks it's generally recommended that you go against the joists rather then with them, and place it along a load bearing wall, which will use heavier duty hardware for more stability.
2007-03-06 23:11:15 · answer #4 · answered by Ghapy 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It would be best if the length of the tank runs perpendicular to the floor joists.Its hard to tell on the second floor, but if you have access to the basement, they run the same direction on the 2nd floor. Also a stand with a solid bottom(not just legs), will greatly dissapate weight. Its not gonna fall through, even if you put it smack dab in the middle of the room,but could cause floor warp. Youll be fine.
2007-03-07 09:30:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you are renting make sure you get renters insurance. The problem should not be the weight, but if it is at all out of level which is very easy to have happen it could leak. I have heard of disasters where big tanks gave way on a second floor causing incredible damage. It will always happen at the worst time ie you are out of town. I do not love big tanks on upper levels because of the water risks, but i have done it in quite a few apartments.
2007-03-06 23:31:10 · answer #6 · answered by G&L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if its a 120 long tank, it'll be about 120-150(1500/6ftx2ft) pounds per square foot... i think it MIGHT be okay... try to dig up the building code and see how much the second floor can support... after checking, i would check with some sort of professional just to be safe. it would be BEST to have it on concrete... or at least on the first floor- just incase something happens...
2007-03-06 19:52:19 · answer #7 · answered by louie 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
you're desiring an rather extensive tank, which will desire to be built of suitable stable, apporpriate components. The gross quantity is 119 US Gal. - @ 8.33 Lbs/Gal it particularly is 997 Lbs. the burden of the tank itself poses one extra weight making the unit entire weight on the order of 1500 to 2000 Lbs. you are able to desire to evaluate getting professional advice in this matter. with the intention to have a useful fish colony the species could represent ones that share a organic habitat, even then there may well be canabalism or antagonsitic habit... sturdy success.
2016-12-18 07:26:57 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is it at least 40 years old? Or less? You are unclear. My house was built in the 1920's. The floors are supported by 2x8's, when 2x8's were actually 2x8. A modern building may have 2x10's that are actually 1.75x9.5's. They may a slightly greater load handling ability.
My tank is in the corner, it is a 54 corner. There's absolutely no problem.
2007-03-07 01:46:19 · answer #9 · answered by something_fishy 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋