Out of curiosity, I am moving to a 2003 built north American suburban home. What is the largest size tank you could have without it being in the basement?
Thanks Rafini
Hello; A rough estimate for a large tank might be 10 to 12+ pounds per gallon. This can vary with the type of stand and the stuff you put in the tank. So you may be looking at 2200 to 2640 pounds or even more for a 220 gallon tank. A 100 gallon could be 1000 to 1200 pounds.
Here is the web address of an article that talks about the issue.
My take is that the question can only be answered by someone with knowledge of structure actually having a look to see what you have and what condition it is in. There have been posts (a link follows) describing damage from tanks from time to time, so it does happen.
In case some missed this thread a while back here is a link to it. A look at the pictures should give pause, they did for me.
I've asked this question here varies times as well and the answer is dependent on your specific house structure, what type of floors, walls, support, etc.
The reason no one will really give you an answer is that it is impossible to know. In most houses a 55g would be fine just about anywhere. In many houses, a 125g placed strategically will be fine. In some houses you can go even larger. The bottom line, if you want to know for sure get someone with knowledge to come out and take a look.
I live in a 4 plex apartment building. Its newer and not built the most robust from what I can tell. I talked to my landlord about where I should put my 90g w/40b sump.
We both agreed the corner near both exterior walls would be best.
It depends on the direction of floor joists, floor construction etc
Corners, especially near load bearing walls, are generally better places to put large tanks as opposed to the center of a room. But it all depends on the house and how it's built.
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Also depends on the shape of the tank, if you're running it perpendicular to the floor joists it doesn't matter if it is 4' or 14' long, as the weight will be spread evenly over more joists. If you want a "big" tank, go for something long and wide, avoid anything too tall as it will be concentrating the weight on a smaller footprint.
About a $100 in materials and a days work enabled me to have a 450g with a double stacked 180/125g tanks across the room. You need to do your research though.
think you be fine with up to a 180, long as you run on a load bearing wall, and perpendicular to your floor joices. I crawled under my house to find this out, as my house was built in 2007, no basement, built on a cement footing and piers. for a 250 I would set more piers under the joices to shore them up before hand.