At what point do you start to worry about weight?

[jh1929]

i'm getting ready to start setting up my new 170g. with a 30 gallon sump and possibly my old 65 as a refugium, should I be at all worried about putting this on the first floor and not in the basement?
Thanks,
Jayme

 

[tinyreef]

i'm guestimating that your setup (if all in the same space) is about 2400~2500 lbs. floors normally hold min. 125 lb/sq. ft. dead load (can somebody double check that, pls). i'm further assuming your tank's about 2'x6' which comes out to about 200+ lbs/sq. ft.

oh-oh, get the specs on your house before you start loading up. remember basements are generally cool. :wink:

 

[jh1929]

It gets better, the tanks only 72x18 :roll: . Maybe if I put the tank 6" from the wall and used an 8x2 sheet of 1" ply to increase the footprint, and scrapped or moved the fuge? I could cover the extra plywood with something (very) light like a plant. I obviously dont want to push it too much, but the basements unfinished, and I really would like to have it in the living room.

Thanks for your help,
Jayme

how does one go about bracing a floor, anyway? :roll:

 

[tinyreef]

you brace the floor with these, $$$. each one should hold quite a bit.

 

[esmithiii]

My wife constantly worries about weight...

Couldn't resist.

Ernie

 

[ChrisRD]

jh1929:

I'm an engineer so perhaps I can be of some help. This type of question comes up regularly and the short answer is - there's not a short answer .

For clarification, "Dead Load" refers to the weight of materials used to construct your floor. "Live Load" refers to the weight of items that will be placed on top of the finished floor (ie. fish tanks, people, etc.). Most residential floors are designed and constructed to support no more than 40 PSF of Live Load.

Your setup could weigh 3000 pounds with water, rock, glass, equipment, sand etc. all considered. Whether or not your floor will support this very significant amount of weight depends on where you locate the tank in the room, how the tank is oriented in relation to the floor construction and what your particular floor construction is.

IMO you'd be wise to consult a structural engineer before prodeeding with this setup on the first floor.

Hope that helps.

 

[Bryan]

Somehow this doesn't seem right. I weigh 220 lbs. I am exceeding the 40 lbs /sq foot rating by a factor of 5 as I stand.??

jh1929:

Most residential floors are designed and constructed to support no more than 40 PSF of Live Load.

.

 

[esmithiii]

Bryan,

Your house wasn't designed to have 50 of you in the same room. How many square feet is the room you are in? Multiply that by 40 and that is the design capacity of the floor.

The floor joists bear the weight. They are designed to support a certain load. It is not usefull to think about how much weight a single square foot could support, but how much weight the joists that are to support the tank can hold.

I have a 180G tank (glass) with 270lbs of LR, 6" of sand and a 50gal sump. It is on the first floor, next to a wall over a crawlspace. My joists run perpendicular to the tank so it is supported by 2 joists. The joists are supported about 2' from one side of the tank. I have seen no bowing of my joists.

I would heed Wolfman's advice and seek the advice of a licensed structural engineer.

Ernie

 

[SPC]

Jamie, you say that your basement is unfinished, does this mean there is no ceiling? In other words can you see the floor joists that will be under your tank? If so then take two measurements for us, width of joist (8", 10" etc...) and length. Also tell us which direction your tank will be running in relation to the joists.
Steve

 

[jh1929]

I don't close on my new house until the end of the month, but perhaps I will resurrect this topic then. In the meantime, feel free to continue with the advice!

THanks,
Jayme