Floor requirement for a 150 Reef

[stsweene]

I happen to be in the building bizz and let me ask you this

: have you ever had 5 or 6 guys sitting around a kitchen table playing cards? What do you think the weight is there?? 6 guys at 150lb + table is over 1,000lbs easy... I know its not a constant weight like a tank, but just to get you thinking along those lines... :thinking:
there should be 3/4" subfloor on top of your floor joists, which look to me to be some sort of scissor truss, meaning your roof is tied into your walls & floor. Which create a really strong structure. And if it was built in 98 all the building codes had to be followed so again, your good there. 3/4" board is really strong stuff, we've driven trucks onto our subfloors before we put the walls up and Ive never seen a problem, heck... we've had a stack of 100 sheets of plywood sitting in an 8'x4' square for days and I bet that weighs over 1,500 lbs....

I would think you are good to go,

I would make sure to cross as many joists as possible and make sure you know which way they are running, also dont place the tank near any air-vents or anything else thats cut into the floor.

 

[startrfish]

good info...and i always thought hardy board or plywood was strong. plus even if it couldnt support the weight efficiently...you would notice over time some sagging? i dont imagine it falling through the floor instantaneously

 

[paulcoates]

here is the best I could come up with. Hopefully this makes it clearer. The joist span from one side of the roof to the other side. Only a portion of the 3rd floor area is finished.

 

[acrylic51]

Originally Posted by startRfish
i think i should have been more accurate in my word choice for the bi color. Caution advised is what i should have thrown in. Ive seen these in several reef systems (they were juvies of course) but still in there. Too bad angels are not entirely a reef safe fish =(
Mine started his likings as a juvenile.......

 

[acrylic51]

Hey Stsweenie!!!!! I have a quick question for you on the integrity.....not questioning your knowledge, but what about deflection in the floor???

 

[dragonboy]

There will be a deflection over time depending upon how much weight that structure can handle up to. It could be minimal if his structure is strong enough.

 

[1journeyman]

You know... the thing is you are looking at a ton+ of constant weight.
Plus a potential of water damage at any time....
Seems like a bad combination to me.

 

[acrylic51]

I agree 1Journeyman, the reason I asked about any deflection is you'll be able to see with the weight of the tank and any movement around the tank area will be easily transfered to the tank.......

 

[paulcoates]

bump

 

[reefkprz]

I am a carpenter.
IMO Dont risk it. thats way too much weight. it may be fine for a year. but water damage weakens wood wetting and drying really weakens wood. you dont want to come home and find it on the first floor. the only way I would say yes is if it was a commercial building that was built for it. Sorry but its a really bad Idea. even a 120 would be a no go in my opinion. the only way to pull it off up there in a residential building would be if you had it centered over a bearing wall (thats a wall that runs from under your tank all the way through to the solid basement floor). and thats only if the house is built right. lots of newer houses are whats called spec houses. companies come in blast them out asap and the quality leaves a lot to be desired. I do both commercial and residential construction. I have worked on spec houses, often the crews they hire are one knowledgeable guy and twenty idiots. if your going to attempt it look into severly structually reenforcing that floor.

 

[paulcoates]

this house wasn't a spec house. All of the homes in this neighborhood were built after home was sold to the buyer. However, that being said, it certainly doesn't mean anything about the structural quality.
I would say that the aquarium would be right in the middle of the joist. And it would span probably 5 joist's.
I will say though, I am not going to push it. My wife's office is right below where this tank would go. Adn the last thing I need is the tank falling through the floor and having my wife killed or getting a phone call about my tank falling through the floor.
When you say reinforce the floor, what exactly does that mean? Screwing 2x4's in between all of the joist's that would be spanned?

 

[chilwil84]

many times the top floor is built to the minimum because it usually is not used for everyday use so the joices arent overspand for living
space but they probably are at there max unlike the 1st floor which usually has heavy appliances i build custom houses to hurricane codes and imo i would not put anything over a 6 foot 125 so you will get more joices than a 4 foot 120 "Rome wasn't built in a day but this house was"
not saying your house is but many development houses are whether they a built on spec or built when sold

 

[reefeel]

Do you know how thick the josts and floor really are or are you assuming? My tank and sump weigh well over 2 tons combined but our beams are six inches of solid pine and the tank sits on 6 of them. Not to mention our floor is 2.5 to 3 inches thick. The water of the tank reverberates only a little if you jump up and down. But we also have an addition that was built like a normal house and if what you have is like what we have were if you jump and the room shakes then I wouldn't trust the tanks weight.

 

[paulcoates]

outside of ripping the floor up, I wouldnt know how to answer that question

 

[paulcoates]

actually, now that I think of it, I think I have an access panel in my attic that I can probably get inside and measure the joists.
I'll check it out this weekend and let you guys know

 

[anonome]

Not to knock anyone here, but, without seeing the room and house, have you thought about hiring an architec engineer just to be sure? :thinking:
For the money, and guarantee, I think this would be wise. I would hate for anything to go wrong, and think that if only I had .........
But then I always think the what if's. :thinking:
You are talking to a person that paid for an electrician to wire the fishtank to the house, a seperate cercuit not to overload the panel.

You are about to spend a lot of money on this system, why overburden yourself if it doesn't need overburdening. A little paid here will compensate itself in the end. Just a thought. If nothing for a peace of mind.

 

[stsweene]

from the looks of that picture i would say your 3rd story is all trusses, which probably means your floor joists are 2x4's or maybe 2x6's at best. Measure the span you have from wall to wall, and like reefkprz said, the more walls you can catch underneath of the 3rd story floor where the tank is going to be the better... maybe a closet or bathroom.. unless you have a short wall span, chances are something underneath that 3rd floor should be load bearing.
worst case you can rip up your carpet & subfloor and run a couple more joists underneath it... lol... or how about building a 1 foot high platform twice the size of your tank/stand and use that to help disperse weight...
try contacting whomever built your house and ask their opinion.. they built it..they would hopefully know best.

 

[acrylic51]

Originally Posted by MichaelTX
yeah its more than 1200 I was saying 1200 just in water!!
If you are determined to have it up there i would ask a structural engineer to come look at it and give you a structural inspection of where you want to put the tank. you are going to drop a pretty penny in this tank whats a couple hundred to make sure the floor will hold the weight.. just let them know how much its going to weigh and the exact size of it.
JMO
Mike
Yep it was suggest long ago just to be on the safe side....

 

[paulcoates]

come to think of it, I would guess that the tank would be sitting right overtop of where two doorways are on the floor below. How do I know if they are load bearing walls?

 

[reefkprz]

a load bearing wall will have another wall directly below it running the same direction.and another below that all the way down through the structure. by reenforcing I meant, putting 3/4 inch plywood, glued and screwed down (advantech is the best plus its garunteed for 50 years and water damage resistant), then putting a beam under the floor On the ceiling in your wifes office running the whole span of the room triple 2x10s with plywood inbetween (you can make it look good with some nice pine trim over it. and upright columns at either end of the room to transfer the weight down to the next floor, I would place the beam anbd pillars to land on top of a wall below it. that way you have all that weight spread as far as possible on the top floor, and dispersed downward to the next floor down. having it land on as many walls as possible will help. but without seeing it in real life this is all just hypothetical. my tank is on the first floor and I put a beam under the floor with steel columns to transferr the weight to the basement cement floor. so in effect my tank is sitting on concrete. maybe this crappy drawing will help you understand what I mean.