new tank time but will it hold

n8ball2013

n8ball2013

Member
Wife and I have decided to upgrade our 55 gallon with overflow to a 150 4 wide tank. Settled on the biggest tank we could really do in the space that we have the wall space for. Im just curious if It would hold on the floor. Im more than positive im going to get a contractor to come in and take a look at it to make sure the floor will hold but might as well through it up here will im dreaming big :D
behold the awesome paint skills

heres is the key for this wonderful item
red is the tank measuring 48x30x 25 tall
yellow is the center support beam consists of 5 2x10s secured together and runs the length of the house.
orange is a hollow false wall. its just under 5 feet long and about 12 inches thick. coming from the support beam
blue round circles are steel support beams measuring 13 inches around. they are roughly 89 inches apart center to center
Green are floor supports. they are 2x10 and spaced 15 inches apart.
I know this sucks for doing a whole lot with and i apologize. just trying to get an idea before I pay someone to come in.
My thoughts are to brace each of the floor support beams with an additional 2x10 perpendicular to the floor support. possibly even three 2x10s together with one running perpendicular to the floor supports and then one on either side of it all the way up to the sub floor. it may be overkill but im figuring this is going to weigh close to 2600 lbs if not more.
Thanks for looking and again i apologize for the lack of art skills.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I would say that unless there are some structural issues to add cause for concerne like rotted/weakened joists or subflooring that I don't think you'll have anything to worry about. Once you start getting above 3,000 lbs then I'd start thinking about maybe adding a little extra support to the floor joists. I'm not a structural engineer though, but to my knowledge I haven't really ever heard of anybody having problems like that with that size of a tank...even with the added weight of a sump system. And givin the fact your tank will run perpendicular with the joist I think it'll be ok, IMO.
 
n8ball2013

n8ball2013

Member
i personally dont think there will be any issues but i am from the school of better safe than sorry. I'm sure ill be very sorry if I have a huge hole to fix in my wife's brand new house. lol oh and its hers i just pay for it.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
lol...I hear ya. I agree with the better safe than sorry theory. Honestly I don't think there will be any issue but if you wanted to beef up the joists to be safe than I say go for it.
I.E...I think pretty much any contractor would probably tell you to add more support just for the simple fact that they are fishing for work.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

I always have the floor checked before I put up a tank. Each time the contractor has assured me it wasn't necessary, which gave me piece of mind. I completely believe in better safe than sorry.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Shouldn't be an issue.... How old is the house? If the main beam is properly laminated it will be perfectly fine. You have more than enough support under that area.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I wouldn't even spend the money having someone come in....with the laminated beams and the added supports....your fine......Well let me ask this.....do you have any deflection in your floor now where the current tank is sitting? Another thing you could do to save yourself money is to search for the structural/load strength of a 2x10, and then of laminated beams vs their strength over a given span.....Might ease your mind as well......
I shouldn't laugh....it's serious business.....I can remember a couple years back I was redoing my floors in my house and my custom tank arrived and to my surprise; I screwed up the measurements, and couldn't get it into the family room.....A buddy of mine had me seriously thinking of removing the floor joists in the kitchen and getting the tank to the family room that way......I was redoing the kitchen at the time, so no big, deal, but then I also thought about my wifes face when she got home from work, and very likely chance she would have divorced me over that one......
Needless to say I didn't do it.....
 
n8ball2013

n8ball2013

Member
there is zero deflection at all with the current tank. of course its a third of the tank it will be too though. usually when these projects are going on my wife ends up witha spay day or a shopping trip. lol
 
n8ball2013

n8ball2013

Member
well I ordered the tank last night. should be here tomorrow and then I have to get it home. My poor 75 gpd RO is working overtime right now. Good thing I replace the membranes recently. I also picked up some 2x4 and 2x6s for bracing. Ill take the better safe than sorry approach lol.
 
n8ball2013

n8ball2013

Member
got it home today. a 48x24dx30h 150. Canopy makes it just a touch taller than 6 feet. my wife is super excited and so am I. Should be doing the changing over of the tank this weekend if all goes well.
 
n8ball2013

n8ball2013

Member
for what i paid for the stand it better be lol. I decided that if we were doing a tank this big that I should go ahead and get the hard wood stand instead of the el cheapo pine that you typically see. I'm extremely glad I did. both ends of the stand slide off as well allowing you access that way and the front two doors are barn door style. Should make it much easier to do work in the sump and what not. need to order up some more rock and a few more bags of sand. The only thing that sucks about a tank this tall is you have to have the rock to fill it out.
 
n8ball2013

n8ball2013

Member
lighting right now will be 2 250 watt mh pfo pendants. I'll probably eventually look into either LED or 400 watt halides. The depth kind of makes it difficult to keep anyhting high light on the sand. Its a long way to the bottom.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Yeah that's why I had asked depending on what your planning on keeping the 250's penetration is questionable. What reflectors are you using?
 
n8ball2013

n8ball2013

Member
Well I have the floor braced, water all drawn and started mixing it(will finish tonight) and egg crate cut. My Fedex shipment of another 100 lbs of rock and an additional 40lbs of sand will be here saturday.
Today I'll stop by the fish store and pick up some stuff to finish my plumbing and pick up the background(not a fan of painting the back too close for comfort for me)
I guess you guys know what that means for saturday.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top