180G Or 220G On Main Floor

[gqsmooth]

I live in a house that's a few years old, I am debating on putting in a larger tank that would be going across perpendicular to the support beams against a load bearing center wall. Would you suggest extra support for the joists in the basement?

Also, the tank would be sitting on hardwood, so would I just need a piece of 1" piece of foam or plywood under the stand for protection/leveling purposes?

[geleen]

I would put a wall under it! center the wall under the tank....even a 2x4 wall on 16 inch centers would be good. 125- 150 gallon, 6 foot would be the most that is safe. 200 gallon + stand +/- 2300 lbs

The best leveling foam is the one that is used for kids squares play carpet (they are 1/2 inch thick).

You put the stand on the floor, the foam on top of the stand and the tank on top of that.

Be aware that no matter how careful you are, the hardwood is going to get wet....sooner or later. get a wet floor alarm!!!

Edited July 1, 2016 by geleen

[cullymoto]

Yeah man. I told a house builder I wanted a 300gal aquarium on the main floor of the house. He took that to his engineering team and they had to do an extra set of footings under the foundation, an extra engineered beam in the main floor and an extra set of jack posts between... Do not place a (literal) ton of weight on a floor that isn't built to hold it. Insurance won't help you

[FunkSolid]

Yeah man. I told a house builder I wanted a 300gal aquarium on the main floor of the house. He took that to his engineering team and they had to do an extra set of footings under the foundation, an extra engineered beam in the main floor and an extra set of jack posts between... Do not place a (literal) ton of weight on a floor that isn't built to hold it. Insurance won't help you

I totally agree with you! I built houses for 7 years before I went back to school, and adding a static load between 1500-2500 lbs to your flooring system is a big deal. We would add additional and stronger joists in the floor systems for homeowners who upgraded from the spec homes to nice tubs and Jacuzzis. Some builders even upgraded flooring systems under the older LG direct drive washers, because they had really bad warranty issues because they would shake the house apart. Nothing under your floor could safely take that load, even if its in close proximity to a bearing wall below. It would cost a stupid amount of money to get and comply with an engineered stamped plan for you to follow, but then your (as mentioned above) insurance would be happy.

I can also empathize with trying to avoid the costs of doing things the "proper" way. I would build a 2x8 bearing wall, with double studs point-loading directly under the joists (@ 19.2" typical), and do double top plate on that wall, and make sure its made and installed to fit really tight :-) If the concrete floor in your basement is not super cracked, its probably settled nicely and you don't have a gap to your gravel underneath. And if there is a bearing wall close, that concrete will be supported by those nearby footings as well.

Good Luck!

[gqsmooth]

Can't you just run a 2x8 across the beams, and support with a couple teleposts?

Something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Tiger-Brand-Super-S-Series-8-ft-4-in-Jack-Post-J-S-100/100022783

Edited July 2, 2016 by gqsmooth

[FunkSolid]

Can't you just run a 2x8 across the beams, and support with a couple teleposts?

Something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Tiger-Brand-Super-S-Series-8-ft-4-in-Jack-Post-J-S-100/100022783

I assume your trying to avoid building a 2x8 bearing wall in your basement because it will cut down on your usable square footage, which is completely understandable. First some key nomenclature. The floor joists are the main component of your floor that your trying to add additional support to, and joists sit on beams/bearing-walls. I now assume you want to add a dropped beam underneath the joists where the fishtank will be. This would definitely be an option, but we are travelling further into the realm of complication, and calculators. When you are dealing with clear-span beams there are many calculations that need to be made based on the length of span, type of material and number of plys of the beam, and masses of live/static loads. You also cannot place a telepost on your concrete floor without a footing underneath because the point load of the telepost could potentially punch a hole in the concrete. But again its not hard to sledgehammer a section of the floor out, and hand-mix a nice little footing, and then have the other end of that beam bear onto a wood post in your frost wall.

This project is not impossible, but to do it "safely" or "right" might cost more money than you want to spend, and clear span beams need to be done right to avoid catastrophe.

[gqsmooth]

Slight update, I talked to a structural engineer and he was telling me my floor can hold up to 3000lbs, if I just glue/screw in some 12"x12" beam material along the joists closest to the load bearing wall to help distrubute the load.

The tank would be going over 4 joists for sure, almost 5, but if I moved it over the 5th it would not be center in my living room:(

Any thoughts? What type of glue would I use?

Not sure why the pics turned when uploaded on here, but you'll have to turn your head to the left to get the right point of view.

Edited August 26, 2016 by gqsmooth

[FunkSolid]

The best glue hands down is PL Premium, available everywhere. Alongside what the engineer told you, you can fill the web of the joist with 3/4"OSB and glue+screw that on, then add your LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) reinforcing blocks. Some building inspectors require this in Calgary in certain conditions.

Here are two links.

1. The Glue

2. How to fill the joist webs to make sure you LVL blocks are actually functioning properly.

Hope that helps!

Andrew

[biodives]

The, by far, best description of the issues surrounding the perennial question "can my floor support my tank" is at this link: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php, written by a structural engineer who has actually investigated floor collapses. It is long and detailed, but well-written and worth sitting down for it you are interested in how things work. If not, the finally paragraph is useful in itself:

"I apologize that there are no easy answers or quick fixes. All I've really done is throw some doubt into your mind which maybe isn't so bad. I just don't want anyone to rush out and buy that 180-gallon tank and put it in the middle of the floor based upon some faulty newsgroup logic."

[Ace22]

I installed a 500 gal tank in the livingroom of my 130 yr old home. It has been there for 8 yrs with no issues. I sistered all the floor joists then ran 6x6 beams across and put in 6 teleposts with a 24 " square steel plate under each post. In order to somewhat protect the hardwood floor I placed the stand on 3'4 inch plywood.