Any structural failures?

[d.w.]

I know I've asked a question of weight before, but as there are mixed reviews as to the answer I thought I'd try a different approach. I live on the second floor and I have a neighbour beneath me. I recently bought a 155 gallon tank but before I set it up I want to be absolutely sure that the floor can take the weight. It seems like everytime someone asks this question 8 out of 10 people say it's safe. What I want to know is how many of you have tanks on upper levels and have any of you actually had a bad experience relating to structural failure?

 

[goingpoor]

well i have a 180 with a basment underneath and have seen no problems...i had someone in here working on redoing my basment and asked about it and he told me it would be fine...hope that helps

 

[nycbob]

155 gallon is roughly about 1500 ibs without live rocks. i'd make sure it can handle that weight bc every structure is built differently.

 

[d.w.]

I worry about it alot, because a failure would be catastrophic but when I think about the fact that the stand can hold the weight of the tank then I would like to assume that the floor (which I would hope is built better than a stand) should be able to take the weight. Every way that I work it out seems to point to it being strong enough, but if my logic was proved wrong that would be some nightmare. It's hard not to think about it when dealing with THAT MUCH weight! I'm just curious if my nightmare has ever actually happened to anyone? I've done google searches on the subject, but the results are always theories on what should or shouldn't happen and arguments for and against putting an aquarium my size on an upper level.

 

[maxalmon]

Off topic, but may help....If your renting, you may have a clause in your lease about "water filled furniture or aquariums" Pretty common for landlords to prohibit these items for 2nd story tenants. A friend setup a tank and then had to remove it a couple of months latter when the landlord did an inspection.
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If it's a newer structure, then I wouldn't worry about it. The weight is going to be displaced over a large area, not like your going to have 1500lbs focused on 1sq feet of space. Most condos and Apartment have pretty tought flooring standards to stop problems like this from happening, no different than a homeowner who has the tank on the second.

 

[huck4200]

If the tank is close to a load berring wall you should be fine. If it is in the middle of a room you could get some sag in the floor joists. If the floor is concrete you don't have to worry at all.

 

[d.w.]

Thanks goingpoor, having a 180 over your basement counts and I'm glad to hear you haven't had any problems.

Does anyone have their large tank on an upper floor other than goingpoor?
Alternately, has anyone had first hand experience with structural damage due to weight?

 

[perfectdark]

If you look at a stand in comparason to your floor joists bracing etc. you need to consider that the tank was designed to handle a weight based on the dimensions that it was designed for ie design load. Your flooring also has specific design load criteria. The design load of floor has to be able to withstand a certain amount of pounds per sq ft, by building code law. That very well may not be anywhere near the design load of that stand. I do believe that if in fact you were under a structual support of the house like a beam or through a load bearing wall (providing you added the proper support after you altered it) you would be able to keep it without much worry. The tolerances of structual supports are typical double what the structure is meant to support for obvious reasons. The same reason that elevators can hold double the weight listed.
More factors to consider is.. the year the house was built. What the code requirements were then. Floor joist spacing and foor rafter spacing (if they even used that when the house was built) will all be critical in determining how much weight can be held in on area. Sorry for the lengthly explanation but just because someone else might of done it, the factors that allowed them to do it might be completly different than your scenario.

 

[devil dog]

I would look up how much a king sized waterbed lbs are i would think that it would be clouse...
I have a 120g tank and 30g sump and 20g refug on the 2nd floor and i hve not had any problems with it and its been there for over a year...
My house is over 80 years old also...

 

[saltn00b]

some other things to think about -
i would say you are looking at a reef tank weighing closer to a ton that size.
a) are you going to have an RO / DI unit?
i have a 150g tank and am going to the fish store on average once a week to buy 30 gallons in RO for small water changes and top off. you dont want to be lugging 30+ gallons up stairs every week.
b) if you are renting, look into clauses about 1) keeping them and 2) water damage. sooner or later you are bound to get some water on the floor. hopefully not much.
c) if you have a problem and you arent home, and lets say your tank drains or worse, this water will end up in you neighbors apt. are you prepared to pay for that clean up?

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by Devil Dog
I would look up how much a king sized waterbed lbs are i would think that it would be clouse...
I have a 120g tank and 30g sump and 20g refug on the 2nd floor and i hve not had any problems with it and its been there for over a year...
My house is over 80 years old also...

Yes but a king size bed displaces its weight over a larger footprint.

you need to compare it to lbs per sqft based on the area of the object.

 

[saltn00b]

you can always place a platform underneath it the spreads out the weight over a slightly larger area and across all of it evenly, as opposed to some stands that are on legs.
the platform will rise the tank as well, which can be a good thing. i like raised tanks IMO. just make sure it is level.

 

[khoi29]

To me its not worth the risk . Get a smaller tank. But hey its your money my friend.

 

[devil dog]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Yes but a king size bed displaces its weight over a larger footprint.

you need to compare it to lbs per sqft based on the area of the object.
Weight is weight…

if you ask me it is worse or more weight and strain if you had a waterbed. A waterbed will be about 7 feet off the wall. Where a tank will be at the most 32” of the wall and if you go over the floor joust and have it on a load Bering wall and not sitting on the middle of the room it should be fine! IMO

Is you house in good shape?
How old is you house?
Do you own your home or do you rent?

 

[scsinet]

Even if the floor cannot take it, it's not likely to catastrophically fail.
More likely you'll get sag, which will cause things like busted sheetrock on the ceiling and walls beneath the tank, or you'll see the surface of the water ripple when you walk past the tank. Long story short, you'll get a warning. It's not likely to just crash straight through the floor when it's filled.

 

[maxalmon]

If the floor were to sag, the water level of the tank would be your first clue, it would either shift L, R or front to back. If it was a glass tank, that would be a problem as a glass tank thats not level can cause serious stress issues and you could pop a seam.

 

[shark bait]

I have a 330g reef tank on a load berring wall on the second floor now over 1 year and had a 150 at my other place for 2 years in a bonus room on a load berring wall but not over the joist and I had 1/8 inch sag in the front of the tank, and my 3330 is over 3 joust with no sag.... FYI I'm in CA where we have the highest level of construction code and my house was built 2006.
here is a pic of the 330g along the wall Hope it helps.....

 

[saltn00b]

wow that doesnt look like a 330 for some reason!?
sweet electrostatic speaker btw

 

[shark bait]

I am far from it and that is an 8 foot wall 9 foot high
the speakers are Martin Logans and are 150 lbs each and are 6 feet high. The sound is unreal as for $10,000 thay should be.

 

[ameno]

I'd just make sure you running oposite direction as your floor joist, and not in the same direction. also I'd stay close to a load bearing wall. if it's not along your outside walls I'd try and get over a wall that's on the lower floor. Doing that I would think you'd be fine, unless there's structural damage on the floor joist already.