Will Floor be able to support tank???

[deuce biggalow]

I am in the process of building a house. I am leasing place in about a week. I am worried because most of the places I am looking at have hardwood floors, and they are on the second floor. The tank is a 240 Gallon 96x20x30. Is this thing going to crash through the floor when filled. Any ideas?????? Thanks

 

[scott270]

thats alot of weight unless you have concrete floors and on the second floor i wouldnt chance it, or i would make sure you had insurance

 

[underthesea]

I would be a little leary about putting a 240 gallon tank on the second floor. but check with the owner of the house or were you are staying if you can find out who the contracter was. If you can get a hold of him he might be able to help you out weither or not it will hold.
But yet again that is over eight feet of wall space so there is a pluse on your side. i meen I have 150 gallon granted it is 90 gallons smaller but the dementions of my tank is 72" x 18" x 24" I think that is right. You might be ok. Your water will weigh 765 pounds more then mine but then you have to add the rock tank filter etc. It is going to be tight if you do that i think you will be looking at well over a ton with everything easily. Call a contracter if you can not get a hold of the person that built the house and they might be able to tell you weather or not it is a good idea.

 

[deuce biggalow]

I had the tank on the 4th floor at my office. I am not a structural engineer though, thats why I thought it might be okay to keep it on the second floor. Maybe I better limit my searches to a first floor unit. Thanks, J

 

[broomer5]

Without knowing details regarding the structure of the second floor, I don't believe anyone can answer this question without speculating.
I think you are wise to look at ground floor units Deuce

 

[chainsaw5vent]

hey deuce. be careful about placing something that big upstairs. consider the fact that commercial buildings are built to a higher strength factor than your house. if you are building a typical new home, (which is "light weight construction, not heavy timbers) you'll want to consider adding some vertical supports under the tank's location to help support the load of a 240 gallon tank. you may have to also add additional cross members or sheeting to spread the dead weight load across several more floor joists. a bedroom will have several thousand lbs of stuff in it, but it will be located at several different points in the room. you may want to have a bldg. engineer look at what you're trying to do in order to find a good location upstairs to install the aquarium.

 

[jester]

if you do chance it, make sure you plcae it perpendicular to the floor studs. This will make the load mor even.

 

[daluminum]

plus if your leasing a place you usually cant have "water furniture" and yes an aquarium is water furniture..

 

[jakepilot]

H2O weighs 8 lbs per gallon, plus the sand, and the tank itself, not to mention any rock you put in there...dont chance that one...the water alone weighs around 2000lbs

 

[addicted 1]

Originally posted by chainsaw5vent:
<strong>hey deuce. be careful about placing something that big upstairs. consider the fact that commercial buildings are built to a higher strength factor than your house. if you are building a typical new home, (which is "light weight construction, not heavy timbers) you'll want to consider adding some vertical supports under the tank's location to help support the load of a 240 gallon tank. you may have to also add additional cross members or sheeting to spread the dead weight load across several more floor joists. a bedroom will have several thousand lbs of stuff in it, but it will be located at several different points in the room. you may want to have a bldg. engineer look at what you're trying to do in order to find a good location upstairs to install the aquarium.</strong><hr></blockquote>

 

[addicted 1]

Hey chainsaw5vent, it's nice to see you using firefighting principles for the benefit of aquaria. Vinny Dunn would be very pleased.

 

[deuce biggalow]

I have been through some pretty big quakes over here. Fortunately nothing has ever happened, just a little water spill. I think I am going to take a first floor place, and hope the floor can support it, I will fill it slowly and watch for any signs of it sinking.... <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> Justin

 

[chainsaw5vent]

hello addicted. i can't help it. not having any v.dunn books in my collection, i think he kinda to over my fingers and began typing in proxy. ijji, i purchased an acrylic tank to help counter the earthquake factor. but i don't think it would help too much if the house fell on it. <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> <img src="graemlins//yeahright.gif" border="0" alt="[yeahright]" />