Tank Crashing through the floor

crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
I always hear about people freaking out about the weight of a tank crashing through their floor. Has anybody ever had this happen? Im not talking about you heard through your babys momma friend Tammy whose uncle Frank had a friend whose did.
I know that the weight is a lot. But houses are ment to stand and are built very strong. Have you ever picked up a support board. Hell ever try to break one. I have. If you put a tank up the weight is distributed throught out a certain area. Lets just say you have a 4 foot long tank. That weight is spread out through beams that are supposed to hold an entire family. The furniture. The appliances in the kitchen.
Peoples refrigerators can weigh in excess 300-400 pounds. Fill it up and it can weigh 600 pounds. Where is the support for that?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Wow this is a heavy thread I think you have as much chance of your tank crashing through your floor as you have of winning the lottery. I take that back less chance
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
NOPE...never heard of it...but I did have a contracter make sure my flooring was strong enough...my house is not on a cement foundation...so I wanted to be sure the beams were strong enough
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Heavy thread
, you're a funny guy. I always wondered about this too. I do have a friend's uncle's step granddaughter Laurena...
Well I know of this guy that has so many tanks, he needs giant dehumidifiers and I think if that is your (rare) case, you might need to reinforce the floor (as he did). But you have an excellent point.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
If you have so many tanks you need dehumidifiers you can afford to shore up your floors with the money you are making charging admission
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3015656
If you have so many tanks you need dehumidifiers you can afford to shore up your floors with the money you are making charging admission
Well when I read a post by you I try my best to prove you wrong and this was...well this was the best I could come up. Which I guess makes you right
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3015640
NOPE...never heard of it...but I did have a contracter make sure my flooring was strong enough...my house is not on a cement foundation...so I wanted to be sure the beams were strong enough
Unless your house is built 100 years ago its strong enough. If it wasnt would you want to live in it and have it be tested to everyday abuse? What happens in you have a party? 30 averaged sized People in a House weighs more than any tank we have in our homes. Hell when I was younger I my Dad had a house and I used to throw house parties in. He now has a new house. 100 people In my living room and kitchen. That is way more weight than a 300 gallon tank. Hell more than a 1000 gallon tank.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by crypt keeper
http:///forum/post/3015663
Unless your house is built 100 years ago its strong enough. If it wasnt would you want to live in it and have it be tested to everyday abuse? What happens in you have a party? 30 averaged sized People in a House weighs more than any tank we have in our homes. Hell when I was younger I had my Dad had a house and I used to throw house parties. 100 people In my living room and kitchen. That is way more weight than a 300 gallon tank. Hell more than a 1000 gallon tank.
LOL...My hubby built the room the tank is in.....
...although he did a good job...I just wanted to be sure there was enough support..I have a 225G 30G, 54G and 16G in this room along with furniture (I don't count
)
 
pezenfuego

pezenfuego

Active Member
Originally Posted by crypt keeper
http:///forum/post/3015663
Unless your house is built 100 years ago its strong enough. If it wasnt would you want to live in it and have it be tested to everyday abuse? What happens in you have a party? 30 averaged sized People in a House weighs more than any tank we have in our homes. Hell when I was younger I my Dad had a house and I used to throw house parties in. He now has a new house. 100 people In my living room and kitchen. That is way more weight than a 300 gallon tank. Hell more than a 1000 gallon tank.
Assuming the average weight of a person is 150 pounds (we'll round down) then you had 15000 pounds there. And rounding the weight of a gallon of saltwater to 9 pounds (we'll round up), that is the equivalent to about 1667 gallons. That is on the light side too since I didn't round in your favor. So I believe you are right my friend.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Fish tanks with all that weight (water...rock...wood/stand) is heavier than the original bulder ever expected the floor to hold. Believe me they make houses as cheap as possible, and they make them to hold just what the code instructs and not a pebble more.
The fish tank gets water around it sooner or later. something is going to overflow, brake, spill, or splash which can weaken the floor over time.
Not all builders do a good job. Actually a new house is more likely to run into problems more than a one hundred year old house, because one hundred years ago they knew how to build a house to last.
Nowadays they build houses like mobile homes. I have watched them.
Big fish tanks do, and have crashed through the floor. My tank is on a concrete foundation...However in my old house it wasn't, so I used one of those metal beams from home depot to shore up my floor just to be safe.
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
i dont worry about my tank going through the floor. i think that if you have a large tank, and consider it's weight before deciding on a place in the house to put it, you should be fine. my tank, however, sits against a load-bearing wall, with the support beams running perpendicular to the tank, and with enough rythmic motion i can get the water moving pretty good. i have a buddy who does construction and i talked to him about this the other day. i'm not so worried about it going through the floor, but if i have people over and theres enough movement, i fear it could tip. i'm going to get some 4X4's and install them next time i empty my tank which should be in a month or so.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i found some lr for sale in c-list.
i got there the reason he was selling it was because his 125 gallon tank fell through the floor in the middle of the night.
he has a pier and beam so the floor gets moisture under and from the spilling of the tank.
the house looked to be around 40 yrs old.
sounded like a big mess he had,cracked the tank so he decided to sell the stuff.
got 65 lbs of nice lr for $60
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
I am not worried about the 125g reef tank falling through the floor, but I am very paranoid of it settling into the floor unevenly and causing it to crack or break. I live in a newer double-wide redneck mansion and I can feel an undulation where each of the 12 legs of the stand are pressing the floor down. I have it on the inside wall, where the trailer frame and support pillar is directly under it, but I still get a little nervous when I wonder how far it is going to settle.
 
don trinko

don trinko

Member
The weight of a tank is well distributed compared to the weight of a person.
Unless you have a very weak floor do to rotting or termites you have nothing to worry abought for one or two tanks.
I have a 100+ year old house and I have a total of abought 220g in tanks and storage water in one upstairs room . I also have a 55 and 75 in the livingroom and a 75 in the dinning room. We have a large family ( 7 kids and 17 grandchildren ) and even when they are hear to visit I have not noticed any unussual motion of the floor. Don T.
P.S. I think you will find that most 100 year old homes are built stronger than most newer homes.
 
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