How big/heavy can tank be 4 2nd floor

[beginnermatt]

I want to get a larger tank. Maybe 75gal or more, but it would be in a second floor bedroom. Would the weight be to heavy? One room has a king size waterbed and hasn't fell through. Not sure how heavy that would be or number of gallons. Would appreciate your thoughts. Also, would add 100# LR and deep sand bed plus 50 gal sump. House is 30 years old. Thanks.

 

[logan15]

2nd floors can only 55 gallon tanks my friend had a 125 fall through his 2nd floor

 

[fishking]

i have a 210 gallon tank on my first floor and hasnt fallen through yet

 

[beginnermatt]

I have a king size waterbed in the same room as my 33 long. Couldn't tellyou how many gallons? Maybe someone knows.

 

[fishking]

what is the height, length, width of your water bed

 

[crystain]

The simple answer is it depends.
Is this old or new construction? Is it a house or a building? Are the floors level? DO you own the place? The list goes on. If you have any doubts you should have a structural engineer come in a look at it for you. I have a friend in Salem who has a large (180G I think) tank on the second floor of an older home, no problem.
At the very least, you should place any tank up against a load-bearing wall. Most floors are built to withstand 100 - 200 psf of load. A 24" deep tank only exerts 130 psf of pressure on the floor. But if you put a big tank on an unsupported area of your floor and you are going to see the floor deflection under the weight.
Crystain
Registered Professional Engineer
In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

[mburnickas]

I think "crystain" said it the best. All that bing said you could use as large a tank as you want. Put up some I-beams (figure of the proper size) and go from there. I-beams are dirt cheap and to figure out the loads etc is not rocket science.

 

[beginnermatt]

Thanks for the comments. Lots to think about. I'll try to figure out how many gallons are in the waterbed. Then I'll go from there. Thanks again.

 

[mburnickas]

Just remember the bed is over a wide area and the tank it more volume per area or per sq/ft

 

[fishking]

do structural engineers cost money and would i be able to add a support column

 

[mburnickas]

yes, they cost money but to save some money just ask the a city enginner at your town hall. It is FREE.
I would just look in a book (marks standard handbook for enginners). It just comes down to length of span, load and then I would go like a factor of saftey of like 1.5 to 2
overkill yes but why not. There are many kinds of beams, I think the steal Ibeam is the best and cheapest. They have lam beams but why. They are wood and I like steal!

 

[fishking]

wood isnt a good support beam right.
would i have to call my town hall first to get an engineer

 

[mburnickas]

My town hall has a building inspector. If you have some "chessy" plans then go sit with him since he needs to "sign off" on all permits so he IS an engineer. If you do some hoework he sould be a breeze

 

[bridge man]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...ium_weight.php
http://www.african-cichlid.com/Struct.htm
Give these two sites a read. Very helpful information. Basically the same thing on both.

 

[saltcreep]

Good articles Bridge Man

 

[beginnermatt]

I'll have to read the posts later. Would it make a difference if a large tank was diagonal across a corner?

 

[fishking]

i put my 210 gal tank against my stairs going up to the second floor, this is also located by my front door, does any one know if my floor will be able to support the weight:help:

 

[mburnickas]

that is a lot of weight (1680) just for water. Never mind tank etc. you would need to know if you have 2x4 or 2 x 6 etc. On a load baring wall etc