240 gallon tank on main floor

[shaune]

im looking to put a 240 on the main floor of my bungalo will my floor hold it or will it fall through my floor into the basement i have a 230 and 265 downsatirs but want to put my 240 upstairs if anyone can tell me what they thing that would be sweet

[JLake]

Your houe is newish man it should be ok. Nothing beat the basement though for biggies. Just make sure the tank is running horizontaly to the floor beams. Against a wall or corner is strongest. Even better find the main header. I have my 180 on my main floor and I check for sag every once in a while and there is none.

[letsgofishn]

When I had my 230 on the main floor, I had a extra beam(10 x 6) running directly under the floor(parallel to the tank). This was specs out by some engineer when I was building the house, this was recommended. Many are going to ask, are the beam in the basement running horizontal or perpendicular to your tank upstairs, is the tank going against an outside wall or is the telepost directly below the tank.

Edited December 2, 2010 by letsgofishn

[letsgofishn]

Your houe is newish man it should be ok. Nothing beat the basement though for biggies. Just make sure the tank is running horizontaly to the floor beams. Against a wall or corner is strongest. Even better find the main header. I have my 180 on my main floor and I check for sag every once in a while and there is none.

I have seen in older homes 180 gallon causing sag in the floor.

[Ishkabod]

Personally I'd add support in the basement regardless of how new the home is. every gallon of water is roughly ten pounds so add a zero to the amount of gallons and you have weight and i doubt any house is capable of carrying that type of weight without extra reinforcement. Look at bathrooms with tubs and what they require for extra support in a bathroom for just a tub of water. Mind you they don't want the floor to sink as it might be tile and that'd crack but think about how little the amount of water is in the tub compared to the amount in your tank. Against an outside wall Might be okay but i'd add supports anyway.

You don't want sag just like a tub because if you have a glass tank then that would cause it to be unlevil and that can eventually cause failure of silicone seam or even worse a crack.

you need support period point blank.

If you have a finished basement then maybe add a support colum and finish it by encaseing it in drywall. I'm sure there are many ways of supporting a tank like that but if you place it against an outside wall or even better by the outsidewall and have it resting on multiple beams not just one then you are much better off. Me personally i would never risk the chance that the tank could go crashing through the floor as has happend in the past. Homes are engineerd to take quite an excess of weight but add a 240 gallon tank and some people in the room and voila you have a disaster in the making. I wouldn't even consider it without the exta support.

Google it too. I found some really good information on structure and tanks one time through google so you might want to try that.

Good luck

L

[JohnnyCustom]

Just thought I'd throw this in here. (no hyjack intended) I have some teleposts that would cure any support issues.

Edited December 3, 2010 by JohnnyCustom

[fairdeal]

You can also put a sheet of 3/4" plywood on the floor under the tank itself to distribute the weight. I have done that in the past and have never had issues. Tanks were against the walls and running across the floor beams. Just stain the plywood to match your hardwood and it is less noticeable.

[jvision]

Here's another way to think about it: "Can I put my piano on the main floor?" How many people give that a 2nd thought? Really, if a piano can go on the main floor, why can't a tank?

[MarkoD]

Here's another way to think about it: "Can I put my piano on the main floor?" How many people give that a 2nd thought? Really, if a piano can go on the main floor, why can't a tank?

this is true, but depending on the type of stand you have, the fish tank may have a smaller footprint. (if you're using an iron stand with 4 legs)

Edited December 2, 2010 by MarkoD

[jzz30tt]

Here's another way to think about it: "Can I put my piano on the main floor?" How many people give that a 2nd thought? Really, if a piano can go on the main floor, why can't a tank?

The issue with that is the scale of magnitude. I moved my piano myself. It weighs roughly 500 lbs. Most piano's will weigh between 400 and 800 pounds at the very most. A full 240 is a whole different ballpark.

[Nauticus]

Just a couple of other things to think about are the actual materials that your house's floor is made out of.

Newer homes sometimes have floor beams spaced farther apart in favour of OSB I beams which are strong but can be easily destroyed by water damage as with all OSB products. It can also be an issue if they run lengthwise along the house and thus where you put your tank as the regular beams may not be enough due to deflection This can cause sheering on the glass, unleveling which adds strain over time etc. Also, your floor may be able to handle the force in an ultimate sort of way but going over the yield design level of your beams will permanently deform and weaken your structure.

Finally older homes may have plywood flooring while newer homes usually have OSB flooring which again if you ever have a mishap with water will be severely dibiliating the the strength of the floor and may cause a collapse or slow sag.

That all said, I agree that reinforcement is a good idea, or at least have a look at the structure and use some afore mentioned tricks like weight distribution etc.

Finally if you have any structural engineer friends they could have a 2 second peek and tell you exactly what you might need.

When I was looking at putting in a 90gallon corner with a 75gallon sump my engineer buddy ran me through what I just told you and did also recommend a minor joist improvement.

Hope that helps.

[BettaFishMommy]

here's a great link i found a while ago in regards to tank weight and floors:

http://www.african-cichlid.com/Structure.htm

[JLake]

My 6 foot 180 crosses 5 floor beams all crosed braced. The main header run right next to the tank . I have no worry about my floor. House built in 1999. And telepole is very near the tanks footprint. Mind u shaune your 240 is 600lbs more than my 180. A third heavier. To be safe I'd basement it and get a 125 long for upstairs or sumthing.imagine if your 240 felll thru the floor and crashed thru your 265 starphire tank!

[fishfan]

I have my 230 on the main floor and felt safer supporting it with 2 teleposts supporting a 2x6 perpendicular to the floor joists. My house is older but the floor under the tank is rock solid. Sometimes too much is a good thing....... kinda like keeping fish in the first place.

[shaune]

hey thanks guys very good info and ideas. my uncle and i just came up with a good point i use to have a kingsize water bed and you can bet your @$$ it weighed more then this tank so im really thinking ill be good but i think ill still do what harold said and stain a piece of plywood and put it under thanks alot guys and sorry about my bad writing