Ok..what is a realistic weight for upstairs?

[PeeJ]

The tank will be against the wall, which is a loadbearing wall. would a 180 be too much?

[MikeDeL]

Thats alot of weight. What is the floor made of, wood, or cement? You could always contact the builder of the house and ask what the load capacity of your floor is. I know my sister in law had to buy a fake wood pool table for her upstairs gameroom because the floor wouldnt support the weight of a real wood and marble table, and pool tables have their weight spread over a pretty large area. Your best bet is probably to contact the builder. Hope this helps some.


Mike

[BA]

when i got my big tank, my dad had to call the builder and ask if it could take it, good suggestion Mike call them,the builder would be able to tell you in an instant

[PeeJ]

Floor is wood. I have a 100 gallon up here right now.

What if the builder says yes, I put it up here, and then it comes crashing down? Then im still screwed..haha

[::pete::]

How old is the house? Most newer homes use floor trusses and they are engineered to take a load.

[PeeJ]

9 years old.

[BA]

hey buy some rubermaid tubes fill them up..

[PeeJ]

Well now that i think about it...i had the 100 gallon with about 10 people hovered around it.

[MikeDeL]

Well now that i think about it...i had the 100 gallon with about 10 people hovered around it.
Just remember 10 people standing there looking at a tank is differant then a tank sitting there for a long period of time. A tank sitting on the floor over time puts alot more stress and fatigue on the floor then 10 people standing around for a little while. As far as the builder saying the weight is ok and the floor collapsing anyway, its not any differant then us saying its ok and the floor collapsing. He would just have a better idea of what kind of weight the floor could support. You could always have him send you something in writing stating what the load capacity is. That way if the floor does give you can hold him acountable. Besides what good is home owners insurance if you never get to use it? :D


Mike

[mathias]

Is it a KB HOME :)

[RobertG]

Is it a KB HOME :)

Would this make a difference?

[Ram_Puppy]

too funny...

curiously following, I live in a 5 year old apartment complex with concrete floors, second floor, and I am about to put a 115 gallon cube in.

[Salty]

I would think that if your tank spanned 2 trusses you "should" be ok. This would apply to either wood or concrete subfloors since most second floor concrete subs are a special thin and lightweight mixture. Just my opinion, and BTW, my tank is downstairs!

[btacker]

Here is an idea I got off another site if you are really worried about it:

Just put it by one of the bordering walls of the house/aptif your really worried you can use a piece of 1" plywood. cut it about 4 inches wider then ur tank stand on all sides. then put a rug or soemthing over it and put ur stand on that. that will give it a larger footprint area for wieght distribution

[::pete::]

Another thought is to think about when water beds were popular. They were mostly in the master bedroom which is usually upstairs and dont sit completely still. In a situation where a landlord would say no was mainly because of the possibility of a leak and the damage the leak work cause, upstairs and down. A 180 at 6' should span 5-6 joist (trusses) distributing the weight over each and these are covered with 3/4" subfloor helping to distribute even more. I know some will disagree, but up north all houses have basements making your main floor a second floor and then their tanks are plumbed to the sump and equiptment in the basement.

[Ram_Puppy]

a basement would be nice... darn texas bedrock.

You guys know how to calculate the weight of your tank right?

8.8 X Specific Gravity X number of Gallons (remember to compensate fo sand and rock displacement) + weight of Tank + weight of Stand/Canopy) = weight of live rock and sand.

this should give you a general number that is close enough to go by. I did the math on my 115 on saturday, and it came out to be around 1300lbs, to which I added another 400 or so for filters, refugium, and so on. It's a LOT of weight. You can then divide by square feet of the stand to determine how the pressure is being applied to the floor. I decided I am going to do as btacker suggests, just because I am a consumate paranoid, and spread out the weight with a piece of MDF.

[Salty]

I also agree with btacker, but i would still be sure to go perpendicular to the trusses in order to span the most! Going parallel would not be a good idea, in my opinion.

[Ram_Puppy]

very true... I am putting my tank in a corner against a load bearing wall, I don't think it wil be an issue.

[ratboy]

I read in FAMA magazine along time ago about a guy who came home to find the fire dept in his 3rd floor apt. His 150 had crashed thru the floor and crushed the downstairs neighbors dog who was apparently eatting his dinner!!! Ever since Ive been paranoid and when ever I hear the normal creaks you hear in a house I think a tank is going to drop thru the floor...

[PeeJ]

Yes that is how I am as well. I am most paranoid when I hear an out of place "water" noise. It really scares me. :(

[BA]

did you get a hold of the builder>???whats the verdict?

[PeeJ]

I passed...that's why all my live rock is in a trash can and the tank missing....its getting "holed."

[::pete::]

I came across this in a different thread and thought it might shed some light.
My minor is in architectural engineering so I can shed a little light on the subject. I will try to keep this simplistic.

The standard code for weight bearing in a residential home on the second floor is 50 pounds per square foot (40 pounds "live load" [People/furniture/etc]) and 10 pounds "dead load" (the weight of materials (wood, tile/carpeting/etc.) - this is a standard measure across the U.S.

The part of the equation that you are not taking into consideration is Deflection. Most codes state that building must have no more than a 1/360 Deflection per square foot. That means that the floor can sag no more than 1/3 inch at maximum weight load. Most floors will sag much less than that until 3 times maximum weight is applied. At about 150 pounds per square foot, most floors will begin to sag that 1/3 inch due to the flexibility of the flooring joists and sheathing.

Keep in mind that newer construction has more give and flexibility than older construction because the wood is greener. Most second floor construction is 2x10" joints on 16" centers which surpasses code by about 75% that is why a 200 pound man can jump up and down and the floor shouldn't waver much but it will give some - within expected guidelines (1/3" to 5/8" Deflection).

The real question is how much weight can it take before you should be concerned? Aquarium weight is constant - Heavy, but constant. The fish and rock don't jump around too much causing rocking. This has advantages in that gravity is a constant and pulls at the same rate 1g.

Let’s say for arguments sake that 75 gallon tank is full with sand, rocks, water, fish and you have a 20 gallon sump with a 10 gallon refugium.

You have put in approximately:
Sand - 60 pounds
Rock - 120 pounds
Water - 720 pounds
[80 gallons (75+30-displacement of rocks and sand) at 9 pounds per gallon.]
Stand - 40 pounds
Tank - 100 pounds
Canopy/lights - 60 pounds

Grand Total: ~ 1,100 pounds.

Lets say your tank is a standard 75 gallon 48"x18"x20" which would place a live weight of 183.3 pounds per square foot. (1,100/6 square feet.) This should cause a maximum displacement of no more than 5/8" deflection or sag. Your floor should be able to handle the live load without an issue unless your builder took some extreme shortcuts.

Now I will say that if you are attempting to place the tank over an expanse (i.e. a bridge or loft area), you might risk a higher defection because of fewer support beams - so be aware. Also, near the wall - which is where we usually place a tank - is stronger than in the middle of the floor.

IMHO, your construction will handle your tank without catastrophic failure as long as you don't get 30 people jumping up and down on your second floor with the tank full...