tank too heavy?

[Jake4232]

I'm not really a new to the hobby but I didn't know where else to post this question.

I found a place that is having a great sale on 150 gal tanks and a tank that size would be a dream come true for me. However, the only place i could put it in my home would be on the second floor of my house and I'm afraid of the thing crashing through my floor.

If it is positioned along a load bearing wall with 3 support beams under it, do you think this would happen or would the risk be too much to make it worth having?

 

[lmforbis]

I'm not an engineer so this is just an opinion.
If you are next to a load bearing wall and the joists are perpendicular to the direction the tank will be you should be OK, especially if it is an older home with regular joists. I'm not sure the newer engineered joists are enough support. You could contact a structural engineer to look at it and give you an answer. THey charge a couple hundred bucks to come out, much less than water damage and a hole in the floor/ceiling.
I have my 125 in a similar type of location. along a load bearing wall (125 gallon tank, 20 gallon sump and 10 gallon ATO). There is a steel I beam under that wall and the joists are perpendicular to the wall.
Salt water is about 8.5 pounds per gallon so that is about 1500 pounds of water. not including 200-400 pounds of empty tank, the rock and sand and the sump. I'd guess 2000 to 2500 pounds of weight on the joists.

 

[jay0705]

Agreed. It should be ok, however mine is on the first floor along the load bearing wall and I still added supports in the basement lol

 

[geridoc]

I put a 220 in my living room, but put steel support posts in the basement, too. The beams in your house "should" hold the tank, but it becomes a matter of weight distribution. All too often all of the weight of the tank is communicated to the floor through 4 legs, putting a great strain on those 4 contact points. When I had a 110 gallon system in the living room I used angle irons under the legs to span two beams, and set the legs on the iron so that the weight was distributed to two beams rather than to a small contact area. I am not an engineer, so this was just my "common sense" solution that held up for 19 years.

 

[bang guy]

As long as the tank is perpendicular to the joists you will not have any issues.

If you are still concerned call a contractor and let them tank you into doubling the number of joists under the tank. Really though, it's going to be fine.

However, I wouldn't allow a crowd to start dancing in front of the tank, it will shake a bit if you jump on those heavy joists.

 

[deejeff0442]

I had a 250 tank on a pier and beam home. Like said above I put it along the wall where the joists ran every 16 inches under it.
Didn't have a problem if you an put it on top of a wall that's under it on the 1st floor I would do it